N. Lee Cooper

Lee is Chairman Emeritus of the Litigation and Arbitration sections of Maynard Cooper & Gale, and he remains active in several of the litigation practice groups of the Firm, having litigated or arbitrated a heavy volume of cases in the securities, insurance, products liability, contracts, corporate governance and employment practices over a career spanning well over forty years and counting.

• Successfully defended large broker-dealer in a six week trial in Nashville, TN involving $100 million nationwide securities class action concerning the Sandestin Beach Hilton Hotel
• Successfully defended a major industrial company in a six week jury trial alleging a racially hostile work environment
• Successfully defended BellSouth in defense of a $20 million claim for tortuous interference; a defense verdict for BellSouth on tortuous interference and a $3.4 million jury verdict in favor of BellSouth on contract claim
• Represented licensees in a commercial fraud lawsuit against international clothing retailer; a four week jury trial resulted in a $2.5 million verdict in favor of licensees
• Successfully defended General Electric in a breach of contract and fraud claim involving the construction of ocean vessels used for drug interdiction
• Successfully defended Standard and Poor’s (McGraw Hill) in a $1.8 billion securities class action concerning Executive Life guaranteed insurance contracts
• Successfully defended outside directors of HealthSouth in securities fraud litigation in federal and state courts in Alabama
• Successfully prosecuted patent infringement claims against Intel on the operating system of the Pentium chip resulting in settlements of almost one billion dollars
• Reversed and rendered a $30 million verdict against Phillips Petroleum before the Alabama Supreme Court
• Affirmed before the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals a $8 million jury verdict against the third party plan administrator of health benefits for an industrial client

Affiliations

• American Bar Association, President (1996-97); House of Delegates Chair (1990-92); Litigation Section Chair (1985-86); Federal Judiciary Chair (1999-2000); Katrina Task Force Chair (2005-06)
• American Bar Endowment, President (2010-2011)
• Vice Chair of the Congressional Commission on Structural Alternatives for the Federal Courts of Appeals appointed by Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist (1998)
• Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
• American Law Institute, Council Member
• Rand Institute of Civil Justice, Former Board of Directors Member
• Alabama State Bar Association
• Birmingham Bar Association