Education

J.D., Duke University, 1969. Note Editor, Duke Law Journal 1968-1969.
B.S., Indiana University, 1966.

Court Admissions

State of New York
The U.S. Supreme Court
The U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Second and Fifth Circuits
The U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York

Bar Admissions

The Association of the Bar of the City of New York

Jack Cooney

Principal

Download vCard

Mr. Cooney has been a principal of McKool Smith since 2009, having moved from Davis Polk & Wardwell after more than 35 years of practice there. The mainstay of his practice has always been complex civil and criminal litigation. He has represented individuals and institutions in grand jury and other governmental investigations relating to a wide range of criminal charges, involving securities and insider trading, mail and wire fraud, tax, antitrust, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, government contracting, FDA violations, accounting irregularities and environmental accidents. Some of his most successful criminal representations remain confidential, as they ended in the prosecutor’s decision not to go forward with a public charge against his client.

His practice has commonly involved representation of foreign clients and working as a team with foreign counsel. The assignments that he handled for Siemens in connection with its FCPA prosecution, for Shell in its internal investigation of its oil reserves and for Exxon in an FCPA investigation concerning Kazakhstan are typical of such matters.

Since joining McKool Smith, his work has included, among other things, representing foreign institutions and an individual in civil litigation and criminal, regulatory investigations relating to the Madoff scandal, a criminal investigation of false filings by a Korean institution in an antitrust inquiry, a civil antitrust matter for Lockheed, and several FCPA cases.

Mr. Cooney served as Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 1972 to 1977, becoming chief of the narcotics unit. As a prosecutor and defense counsel, he tried numerous criminal cases to verdict before federal juries. Among his noteworthy trials are his representation of Recognition Equipment Incorporated in its acquittal for alleged bribery of the vice chairman of the United States Postal Board of Governors; the estate of Charles Shipman Payson in successfully rebutting a challenge to his will; and, Winfield Dunseath in his acquittal at trial for alleged foreign currency fraud.

He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and has acted as chairman of its Committee on the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. He has taught in the Harvard, Cardozo and Fordham law schools’ trial practice programs and at white-collar crime courses held at Georgetown University Law Center. He is a graduate of Duke University School of Law, where he served as Note Editor of its Law Journal.

Chambers USA (2008) described him as “a passionate advocate for his client.”

Professional Activities

Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers (Past Chairman of its Federal Criminal Procedure Committee); Federal Bar Council, Chairman, Bar and Bench Liaison Committee; New York Council of Criminal Defense Lawyers; Wong Sung Society; Supreme Court Historical Society.

Awards & Recognition

Mr. Cooney is listed, based on peer and client reviews, as a leading litigation lawyer in numerous publications, including Chambers USA - America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, Woodward/White’s Best Lawyers in America, American Lawyer Media’s Corporate Counsel: Best Lawyers Annual Guide to Criminal Defense Law, International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers - Business Crime Defense, and Legal Media Group’s Expert Guide to the World’s Leading Litigation Lawyers.