Cook Mediation was founded in 2015, when Phil began to devote more of his time working with parties to resolve their disputes. He has been an approved Voluntary Settlement Officer for the California Court of Appeal since 2004 and has mediated scores of appellate cases. Beginning in 2006, he was a court-appointed Early Neutral Evaluator and Mediator for the Los Angeles County Superior Court. And since 2015, he has been a court-approved Panel Mediator for the U.S. District Court, Central District of California.

Legal Employment & Education

After graduating from the UCLA School of Law, Phil began his legal career in 1990 with the Los Angeles office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. Following a clerkship with the Honorable Consuelo B. Marshall in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, and stints as a litigator with two Los Angeles firms, Phil joined Jones Day, where he practiced for almost 20 years. Phil started The Cook Law Firm in 2015, representing plaintiffs and defendants in all types of business litigation.

Recognition & Professional Affiliations

Phil has been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America for Commercial Litigation and Litigation – Securities; Chambers & Partners’ Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers; as a Southern California “Super Lawyer”; and is AV Peer Rated by Martindale Hubbell.

Phil is a member of the Executive Committee of the Litigation Section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, co-chairing its Complex Court Symposium in 2014 and 2016. Phil is a Past President of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers (2012-2013), having served on its Board of Governors for nine years and chaired its Annual Seminar in 2008.

Pro Bono Work

Phil is committed to pro bono work, directed Jones Day’s Los Angeles office pro bono activities for over a decade, and has represented dozens of clients pro bono over the years. He is the Immediate Past Chair of the Board of Directors of Public Counsel, the nation’s largest pro bono law firm and a member of the Board’s Executive Committee. He received Public Counsel’s Volunteer of the Year award in 2012 (for work representing applicants for child care centers and homes), in 2013 (for work representing victims of mortgage and other consumer fraud), and in 2017 (for work representing operators of family child care homes).

Teaching

As an adjunct law professor, Phil has taught law school courses in trial practice. He has participated in seminars and workshops teaching legal research, civil procedure before trial, deposition, oral advocacy, and trial techniques and has appeared on the faculty at local, statewide, and national continuing legal education programs. In recent years, Phil has helped plan and has participated as a moderator and panelist in a number of continuing legal education programs presented by The Rutter Group.

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“Depending on the case, the most beneficial settlement may be an opportunity that is available now and never will again present itself.” - Philip Cook