PRACTICES
Commercial and Business LitigationInsurance Coverage, Bad Faith and Extra-Contractual Liability Litigation
Personal Injury Defense
Premises Liability
Products Liability
Trucking & Automobile Litigation
EDUCATION
J.D., with honors, University of Tulsa College of Law, 2001- Cali Awards for highest grade in Torts, Legal Writing, Trial Advocacy, Legal American History
- Managing Editor Tulsa Law Journal
- Speaker of the House of Delegates
- Student Body Attorney General
- Trial advocacy travel team (second and third years)
ADMISSIONS
- Kansas
- Missouri
- U.S. District Court, District of Kansas
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Missouri
- U.S. District Court, Western District of Missouri
- U.S. District Court, Central District of Illinois
- U.S. District Court, Central District of Colorado
Charles M Cooper
Partner
V-Card
Charles was born in El Paso, Texas and lives with his family in Lenexa, Kansas. For more than 23 years, he has litigated cases in more than 35 states across the country. He has represented clients in civil matters involving trucking, busing & other commercial vehicle accidents; products liability; commercial disputes; dram shop; construction defects; premises liability; and copyright law.
Charles is committed to serving the community. His pro bono work focuses on various civil rights matters and matters concerning children. Before law school, Charles drove 18-wheeler trucks across the country.
Representative Matters:
Jury trial in Seattle, Washington, (first chair) in property damage case involving an alleged failure in a fire-protection system product (Defense verdict)
Livingston, Louisiana, (second chair) in case involving allegations of wrongful death due to alleged heating equipment failure (concluded favorably after jury selection)
Tuskegee, Alabama, (first chair) in case related to mold exposure (favorable outcome after first day of jury selection)
Civil rights jury trial in the Western District of Missouri in case involving racial discrimination (first chair)
Civil rights jury trial in the Western District of Missouri in case involving prisoner abuse allegations (first chair)
Pro bono trials in Missouri State Court (matters involving claims against juveniles)
Arbitrations for matters in Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina; Maricopa County, Arizona; Fulton County, Georgia; and Riverside County, California. (All awarded to the defendants)
Summary judgment in the U.S. Middle District of Florida (lack of evidence)
Summary judgment in Indianapolis, Indiana, Marion County Superior Court, (lack of evidence)
Summary Judgment in Lake County, Illinois (in matter involving severe burns that resulted from plant explosion)
Summary judgment in Scott County, Minnesota (spoliation)
Summary judgment on all tort claims (on economic loss doctrine issue) in Fairfax County, Virginia
Summary judgment in Harris County, Texas (on RICO claims)
Summary judgment in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (on premises liability and negligent hiring, training, and supervision claims)
Presentations
- Press conference with Mayor Sly James, featured in Business Wire, Kansas City, Missouri (July 2014)
- NHS Past, Present & Future, Kansas City, Missouri (June 2014)
- Financial Leadership—Do You Have the Right Team?, NeighborWorks® Executive Director Symposium, Washington, D.C. (April 2014)
- Experts in Litigation, Kansas City, Missouri (Fall 2011)
Community Involvement
- Lenexa United Methodist Church, serving as Member and as Chair of the Church Council
- Neighborhood Housing Services of Kansas City, serving as Member and as Board Chair
- Brentwood Park Homeowners Association, serving as Member and as Board Chair