William J. Cook, 76, N.J. judge
As a New Jersey Superior Court judge, William J. Cook was proud of his decision in a 2000 case overturning a mayoral election in Chesilhurst.
As a New Jersey Superior Court judge, William J. Cook was proud of his decision in a 2000 case overturning a mayoral election in Chesilhurst.
"There was a very strong grassroots movement to vote for somebody who was not on the ballot," his son, William F., said.
His decision, upholding write-in votes, stated that "the law required equal access for those types of candidates," his son said, a move upheld by the New Jersey Supreme Court.
The Inquirer reported then that Judge Cook had ruled "the county's write-in instructions were insufficient and that the shoe-box-sized voting models, which are required at election sites whenever possible, did not provide proper illustrations for casting a write-in ballot."
Kati Gray-Sadler, the plaintiff, would have outpolled her opponent if all her write-in votes had been counted. Some were rejected because they were not on the prescribed line. She won a new 2000 election.
On Thursday, April 21, William J. Cook, 76, of Haddonfield, a New Jersey Superior Court judge from 1997 to 2010, died of heart failure at Cooper University Hospital in Camden.
"As a jurist," said his son, "he was known for his unwavering independence and his undivided attention to detail."
"He had a special place in his heart for the underserved throughout Camden County, especially those in the city of Camden," said his son, a partner in his father's former law firm.
In 1981, the first year that the honor was given, Mr. Cook was among those to earn the Honorable Peter J. Devine Jr. Award from the Camden County Bar Association, named in honor of the organization's 1967-68 president.
Writing for the Westmont law firm Brown & Connery, for which Mr. Cook worked until joining the court in 1997, partner William M. Tambussi said he was "at the cutting edge of products liability law in New Jersey."
"He was fearless in his representation of those less fortunate," Tambussi said, "and tenacious in his meticulous trial preparation.
"For this reason, he enjoyed tremendous respect and success."
Born in Camden, Mr. Cook graduated in 1958 from Haddonfield Memorial High School, earned a bachelor's in economics at St. Joseph's University in 1962, and graduated in 1965 from the Rutgers Camden School of Law.
"He had a tireless work ethic," his son said, "and he was always fond of saying that his first job was as a paperboy for the Sunday Inquirer - when he was 8 years old."
His son recalled that Mr. Cook "worked at the Acme in Haddonfield in high school" and during summers in law school drove a truck delivering Cokes in Camden.
During the Vietnam conflict, Mr. Cook was a Marine Corps judge advocate from 1966 to 1969, serving for 13 months at the Da Nang air base.
"He was trying cases throughout the military combat zone," his son said, "and even in underground bunkers."
Marrying in Northeast Philadelphia in 1970, he became a trial lawyer for the Brown & Connery law firm, eventually becoming a senior partner in the early 1990s.
"He was a fierce advocate for the downtrodden in complex civil matters," his son said, "especially in those involving catastrophic injury."
Mr. Cook, his son said, "presided over thousands of cases and wrote many published judicial opinions touching on every area of the law."
Mr. Cook was inducted in 1989 into the American College of Trial Lawyers.
His wife, Kathleen, said her husband "knew how to listen to the catastrophic problems that come into people's lives."
As a personal-injury lawyer, she said, "he knew how to get the companies to see the needs" of his clients."
"Trying not to go to court," she said, "he did a lot of mediations."
Besides his wife and son, Mr. Cook is survived by daughter Susan Cook and three sisters.
Visitations were set from 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday, April 24, at Kain Murphy Funeral Services, 15 West End Ave., Haddonfield, and from 9 to 9:45 a.m. Monday, April 25, at St. Vincent Pallotti Church, 901 Hopkins Rd., Haddon Township, before a 10 a.m. Funeral Mass there, with private interment.
Donations may be sent to sacredheartschoolcamden.org.
Condolences may be offered to the family at kainmurphy.com.
610-313-8134 @WNaedele