Georgia News
Bobby Lee Cook’s notable cases
One of Bobby Lee Cook's many high-profile clients was serial killer Wayne Williams (seated on right in white and blue prison jumpsuit). Cook was among a group of lawyers who tried unsuccessfully to obtain a new trial for Williams. Here Cook is addressing Superior Court judge Hal Craig during a hearing. Seated in background is Jackson Diagnostic Center officer Neil Earnhart, baliff W.N. Johnson (standing background). (STEVE DEAL/AJC staff) 1986
The late Summerville attorney Bobby Lee Cook handled many high-profile cases over the seven decades he practiced law.
- In 1975, he represented three of seven men accused of killing Atlanta pathologists Warren and Rosina Matthews. They were found guilty at trial, but Cook later got the convictions of all seven thrown out by showing the state’s star witness had lied repeatedly on the stand.
- In the 1990s, Cook defended Atlanta lawyer Fred Tokars, who was convicted of arranging the murder of his wife, Sara.
- Cook and lawyer Hardy Gregory brought a class-action lawsuit against the Teachers Retirement System of Georgia for shorting educators benefits in their pension plans. They obtained a $750 million judgment for thousands of retired teachers.
- Cook defended C.H. Butcher after his and his brother’s Tennessee banking empire collapsed in 1983. At trial, Butcher was acquitted of all 25 bank fraud charges.
- Cook joined a team of lawyers who unsuccessfully tried to win a new trial for Wayne Williams, convicted of two of the 29 “murdered and missing children” cases.
- In the 1980s, Cook represented Savannah antiques dealer Jim Williams, whose case was chronicled in the best-selling book “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” and who was ultimately acquitted of murder.
- Among Cook’s other clients: former federal budget director Bert Lance; lobbyist Tongsun Park, charged in the “Koreagate” scandal; airport concessionaire Dan Paradies, convicted of a scheme to bribe members of the Atlanta City Council; and Atlanta banker Christopher Drogoul, charged in the Banca Nazionale del Lavoro affair.
About the Author
Bill Rankin has been an AJC reporter for more than 30 years. His father, Jim Rankin, worked as an editor for the newspaper for 26 years, retiring in 1986. Bill has primarily covered the state’s court system, doing all he can do to keep the scales of justice on an even keel. Since 2015, he has been the host of the newspaper’s Breakdown podcast.
