After graduating summa cum laude from Duke University in 1979, Jim attended the University of Virginia School of Law. During his time at the University of Virginia he served as editor of Virginia Law Review. Jim served as a clerk for the Honorable John D. Butzner, Jr. in the U.S. Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit from 1982 to 1983. Jim was admitted to the North Carolina Bar in 1984 and joined the firm of Kennedy Covington Lodbell and Hickman, LLP, where he worked until 2000. Jim soon joined the firm now known as Womble Bond Dickinson, where he has served for the last 20 years.
During his 30-year career Jim has tried more than 60 civil and criminal cases. Jim brought forth nearly 50 appeals in the North Carolina appellate courts and the Second and Fourth Circuit federal courts of appeal. One of Jim’s most notable cases involves his work as counsel pro bono with the New York-based Innocence Project, where he worked to ensure Darryl Howard was exonerated after 20 years in prison due to a wrongful homicide conviction. Jim also served as counsel pro bono for convicted death row inmate Alan Gell. Alan Gell became the 113th person exonerated from death row in the nation. Jim served as counsel for Reade Seligmann, one of the wrongfully accused in the “Duke Lacrosse” Rape case. Jim’s work with the legal team on that case resulted in the declaration that all of the players named in the case were deemed innocent.
Jim served as the Mecklenburg County Bar Civil Litigation Section Chair from 1993 to 1998 and President of the North Carolina Association of Defense Attorneys from 1996 to 1997. In addition, Jim chaired the Mecklenburg County Courts Committee from 1993 to 1998. Jim also served as Chair of the North Carolina Bar Association AIDS Task Force along with numerous other conferences, organizations and committees.
Jim has been honored as one of the Top 25 2020 Charlotte Super Lawyers and one of the Best Lawyers In America© in the fields of Appellate Practice, Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation, Criminal Defense: General Practice, Criminal Defense: White-Collar, Medical Malpractice Law – Defendants and Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants. In 2004 he received the NC Bar Association’s William Thorp Pro Bono Award and in 2010, the Wade Smith Professionalism Award for Criminal Defense. In addition to his practice, Jim is the Chairman of the Litigation Department where he oversees more than 300 timekeepers.
The criteria for the Ayscue Professionalism Award embraces sustained, outstanding service to the Bar and the community at large that may serve as a personal and professional inspiration to others. Jim Cooney’s professional career and his life of service to the bar, to the justice system, and to the community make him an exemplary model of the qualities this award was established to recognize.
It is for these reasons and many more that we are proud to award Jim Cooney the 2020-21 Ayscue Professionalism Award.