An Advocate's Journey

"A fascinating account of an extraordinary life in the law."Hon Judith S, Kaye Michael A. Cooper has spent his entire 56-year professional life with Sullivan & Cromwell LLP. He was Managing Partner of the Litigation Group from 1978 to 1985 and for many years oversaw the Firm’s pro bono work.. His litigation experience has been wide-ranging: from antidumping and antitrust to derivative suits, eminent domain, insurance, securities and voting rights. Mike has served the legal profession in several capacities. He has been President of the New York City Bar Association and of the American College of Trial Lawyers. He has also been devoted to pro bono work, serving as President of The Legal Aid Society, founding Board Chair of Pro Bono Net, Co-Chair of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under and a director of Volunteers of Legal Service and the Vance Center. He represented a Guantanamo detainee from 2005 to 2015. For all his professional endeavors, Mike received a Lifetime Achievement Award from The American Lawyer. Michael Cooper’s An Advocate’s Journey is an eloquent account and heartfelt plea for continuation of the three-dimensional lawyer: service to the client; service in support of the public interest; and service to the profession. In clear and succinct prose devoid of legal jargon, the author takes readers through a number of his most memorable, and often complicated, legal matters. The reader feels the high of his victories and the low of his occasional defeats. It is a testament to his humanity that there are many heroes described in An Advocate’s Journey, often including opposing counsel, and very few villains.H. Rodgin Cohen, Senior Chairman, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP In An Advocate’s Journey, Michael Cooper artfully presents a penetrating reminder of the meaning of professionalism, together with a fascinating inside look at the conduct of major litigation in one of America’s mostly highly regarded law firms. But most of all, Journey is a love story – a captivating rendering by a dedicated professional in love with the law. John Martel, Writer and Novelist “An Advocate’s Journey” is at once a narrative documenting transformations in law practice over the past half-century, an education in sophisticated litigation, and a window into vital public issues ranging from voting rights to Guantanamo detention arising during the war on terror. It is also an engaging and memorable conversation with an extraordinarily smart, generous and wise human being who shares the great life in the law he forged. Michael Cooper’s journey is a gift for anyone interested in solving human problems, in U.S. history since World War II, in the practice of law, and in struggles for justice.Martha Minnow, Dean, Harvard Law School