N. Lee Cooper

Lee is Chairman Emeritus of the Litigation and Arbitration sections of Maynard Nexsen, 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.

Community & Professional

• 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

• 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

Recognition

• B-Metro, Selected as a Top Attorney (2020)
• Alabama Super Lawyers - 2008-2010, Business Litigation, Securities Litigation, Civil Litigation Defense
• Martindale-Hubbell AV® Preeminent Rating