The Hon. Christopher R. Cooper is a district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. He was nominated to the bench by former President Barack Obama on August 1, 2013. Cooper was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 26, 2014, and he received his judicial commission two days later.
Prior to his nomination, Cooper worked in private practice in Washington and London, handling white-collar crime and internal corporate investigations of alleged fraud and corruption. During that time, he was an attorney at Miller, Cassidy, Larroca & Lewin (1996 to 2000); Baker Botts (2001 to 2012); and Covington & Burling, LLP (2012 to 2014). Before entering the private sector, Cooper was a special assistant to the Deputy Attorney General of the United States Department of Justice (1994 to 1996).
He received a B.A. from Yale University in 1988. Cooper then completed a J.D. at Stanford Law School in 1993. While a law student, he was president of the Stanford Law Review and a board member of the school’s pro bono legal clinic.
After graduating from law school, Cooper began his legal career as a clerk to the Hon. Abner J. Mikva with the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (1993 to 1994).
He and his wife, the parents of two sons, reside in Washington, D.C.