Mr. John Cooper

Arbitrator, Mediator, Private Judge

• Serious Injury & Wrongful Death
• Construction
• Professional Negligence
• Commercial & Business
• Maritime
• Mass Torts

WAMS Mediator Certification: 1989

Accomplishments: Mr. Cooper is Of Counsel to the Seattle firm of Stafford Frey Cooper, which he joined in 1971 and where he formerly practiced in the areas of negligence and product liability, insurance coverage issues, commercial law and litigation, fidelity and surety law, and maritime law. He is a full-time neutral and has served as mediator or arbitrator in more than 2,000 cases, averaging 200+ mediations and 50+ arbitrations per year.

His mediation experience includes a wide variety of tort claims (including head injuries, wrongful death/survival, HIV exposure, FELA claims, street/highway design, E-coli and other food-borne illness claims, medical, legal and accounting malpractice), insurance coverage, surety/construction claims, fidelity claims, commercial/contract disputes and employment claims. Mr. Cooper also serves as a solo or swing arbitrator in commercial, personal injury and UM/UIM claims.

He has authored or co-authored several articles in conjunction with seminar presentations on the topics of wrongful death and survival actions in Washington and under maritime law (Jones Act, DOSHA, general maritime law). He was admitted to the Washington Bar in 1970 and clerked for the Honorable Jerome Farris on the Washington State Court of Appeals (now on Senior Status, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals). He is admitted to practice in the federal district courts in Washington State, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court.

Education: WAMS Mediator Training, 1989; USA&M Advanced Mediator Training 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004; University of Washington School of Law, JD, 1970; Whitman College/University of California, Santa Barbara, BA Economics, with High Honors, 1967.

Affiliations: Washington Arbitration & Mediation Service; American Bar Association (ADR and Tort & Insurance Practice Sections); Washington State Bar Association (ADR Section); King County Bar Association (ADR and Admiralty Law Sections); National Bond Claims Association; Maritime Law Association; Association for Conflict Resolution.