John Cook is the new judge in town

By Chris Dumond

Published: July 20, 2008

RUSTBURG — A nine-time marathoner, lawyers in the 24th Circuit are well advised that newly appointed Judge John Cook isn’t a man who wears down easily.

Cook, 51, was appointed by the General Assembly this year to replace retired Judge Samuel Johnston.

He took the bench June 1.

A Lynchburg native and resident, he was educated at the Virginia Episcopal School and earned his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Virginia. Cook is married and has three daughters.

“He’s going to make a great judge,” said Sandra Hann, his secretary for the last 18 years at the Lynchburg law firm Caskie & Frost. “He is extremely smart.”

Hann said she always found it remarkable that Cook could remember the most minute details about both sides of cases that he had tried, even those that were more than a decade old.

Cook said he worked as a court-appointed defense lawyer for the first five years of his career, but spent most of his 25 years at Caskie & Frost defending clients in civil lawsuits.

He has tried more than 250 civil cases across central Virginia, a tremendous amount according to Hann, who has worked with civil attorneys up and down the East Coast.

Becoming a judge has meant a good change of pace, Cook said.

“In private practice, we tend to specialize, to hear one certain kind of case over and over,” he said. “As a judge, you don’t ever hear just one kind of thing and the variety keeps it interesting.”

Cook said he has long aspired to become a judge, calling it the highest community service one can perform in the legal profession.

He has previously served on disciplinary committees for state and local bar associations, represented the 24th Circuit (Lynchburg, Bedford, Amherst and Campbell counties) on the Virginia Bar Association Council and represented Virginia on the American Board of Trial Advocates.

“Service has been a big part of what I’ve done in addition to practicing law,” he said.

He said he expected the job to be tough, but in the nearly two months he’s been on the bench, the gravity of his position has been striking.

“You realize you are doing important work every single day,” he said. “Every day you are making extremely important decisions.”

Cook said he was honored to be selected by the local members of the General Assembly for the appointment, and to be welcomed as he has been by other judges and lawyers practicing here.