Nena Cook is an attorney in private practice with more than twenty years of experience. In 2007, she was appointed by the Oregon Supreme Court as a Judge Pro Tem and has served in that capacity continuously since then.
As both a Judge Pro Tem and an attorney in private practice, Ms. Cook handles complex legal matters on a daily basis. She has vast experience studying legal briefs, researching the law and performing thoughtful analyses of the complicated issues before her. This experience will allow her to contribute effectively and immediately to the complex decision making of the state’s highest court.
Ms. Cook attended law school at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, graduating in 1991. During law school, she clerked in the Marion County District Attorney’s office. For the first five years of Ms. Cook’s practice, she represented individuals in personal injury cases, wrongful death actions, family law matters, employment discrimination cases, securities violations, and ERISA claims. Since 1996, Ms. Cook has represented individuals and businesses in complex business disputes, appeals and in the defense of professional liability claims.
Ms. Cook has been a leader in the legal community in Oregon. She served on the Oregon State Bar Board of Governors from 2002 to 2005. In 2005, she was elected President of the Oregon State Bar. During her tenure, she fought for increased funding for the judiciary and indigent defense. She commissioned a statewide disability task force to study and improve access to state courts for people with disabilities and initiated a statewide loan repayment program to assist law students interested in pursuing public interest careers. She also established the Oregon State Bar Leadership College, the mission of which is to recruit, train and retain emerging leaders, including women and lawyers of color.
Ms. Cook is dedicated to helping the underserved in Oregon. Since 2006, she has served on the federal court’s Pro Bono Representation Panel, which represents individuals seeking redress for violations of their civil rights. Her strong commitment to justice is evident by her many years of support and leadership in the Campaign for Equal Justice, an entity committed to supporting access to legal services for those who live in poverty.
Ms. Cook carries the preeminent AV designation by Martindale-Hubbell.® That rating is reserved for those lawyers who maintain the highest level of professional excellence and ethical standards. She is a frequent speaker and writer on the topics of ethics, professionalism and employment law. She served on the Oregon Bench/Bar Commission on Professionalism and has spoken on the topic of Professionalism at all three Oregon law schools. A sampling of the honors and awards she has received include:
- Selected as one of the Best Lawyers in America® in the specialty of Labor and Employment Law (2011–2012)
- Named to the Oregon Super Lawyers list in the category of Business Litigation (2006–2011)
- Included in the list of Oregon’s Top 25 Women Super Lawyers (2009)
- Voted by Portland area lawyers as the “Best of the Bar” in the category of Litigation and Dispute Resolution (2005)
- Selected by Willamette Week as one of the 50 most influential women in Portland (2005)
- Named by Oregon Business Magazine as one of the top five female business leaders in the State of Oregon (2004)
- Honored by the Portland Business Journal as one of the “Forty under 40” people recognized for outstanding leadership in business and civic affairs (2002).
Born the youngest of three children and raised by a single mother, Ms. Cook developed her work ethic at an early age. She began working at age twelve to help support her family. In high school, she continued working while excelling academically and lettering in four varsity sports. Ms. Cook received her undergraduate degree from Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, while working her way through college and playing competitive basketball.
While it is easy to list Ms. Cook’s many academic and professional accomplishments, her greatest achievement in life has been raising her two sons, Stuart and Simon. Ms. Cook can often be found volunteering in her sons’ school reading to the preschoolers and teaching math to the older students.
Ms. Cook is an avid runner, skier and cyclist. She has participated in various competitions, including the Portland Marathon where she placed in her age division with a personal best time of 3 hours and 13 minutes.
Email