Mary Quinn Cooper serves as national trial counsel for major corporations and defends products liability claims and class actions across the country. For the last 25 years she has represented Ford Motor Company and General Motors nationally in challenging cases with high exposure. Mary has also tried cases for various other manufacturers and Fortune 500 companies and has defended clients in professional malpractice matters.
Mary is a frequent speaker locally and nationally on trial practice issues. She has spoken before the Defense Research Institute, Oklahoma Association of Defense Counsel, American Inns of Court, Oklahoma Bar Association and Tulsa County Bar Association. She served as a faculty member for the 2005 International Association of Defense Counsel Trial Academy at Stanford University, the Oklahoma Trial Lawyer Association’s 12th Annual Oklahoma College of Advocacy, and the Oklahoma Association of Defense Counsel’s Products Liability Seminar.
In addition to her private practice, Mary was selected by the chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma to chair the admissions and grievances committee. She also received a mayoral appointment to serve as a civil service commissioner.
Mary’s experience and expertise have earned her perennial recognition in The Best Lawyers in America (commercial litigation and product liability litigation defense) and Oklahoma Super Lawyers, where she has been named to its list of “Top 50 Oklahoma Super Lawyers” and “Top 25 Women Oklahoma Super Lawyers.” She has been named "Best Lawyers' Tulsa Product Liability Litigation Defense Lawyer of the Year" in both 2011 and 2012, an honor only given to a single lawyer in each legal specialty in each community. She has also been awarded the “Golden Rule Award” presented by the Tulsa County Bar Association to a lawyer who exhibits the highest standards of fairness, integrity and professional work ethic.
Prior to joining McAfee & Taft, Mary was a partner with Tulsa-based Eldridge Cooper Steichen & Leach, a corporate law firm she co-founded in 2002.
Active in the community, Mary serves on the Dean’s Advisory Board for the University of Tulsa College of Law, is the chairman of the Advisory Board for Bishop Kelley High School, and volunteers for Christ the King Catholic Church and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. She chaired the inaugural Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Gala, which broke records for the amount of money raised for a first-time event. She also has chaired the Bishop Kelley Annual Fund Drive, the Bishop Kelley Auction and the Saint Francis of Assisi Tuition Assistance Fund Gala. In 2009, Mary was awarded the Association of Fundraising Professional’s “Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser” award.
In 2012, Mary was recognized for her professional and civic contributions to the state by being named to the Journal Record's list of Leadership in Law honorees.
Mary and her husband have three children.
Mary has handled a number of high-profile cases. A brief sampling includes:
- Obtained summary judgment in a high-profile accounting malpractice case which was affirmed.
- Obtained defense verdict in a case in federal court in Arkansas that was prosecuted by Johnnie Cochran and his law firm. In that case Mary successfully defended a major automotive manufacturer in a products liability case where a woman who lost her husband and four children claimed that a defect in the vehicle caused their deaths.
- Handled class actions for various clients where nationwide classes have been certified.
- Obtained defense verdict in a multi-million dollar wrongful death action in Cleveland County, Oklahoma, where the families of five individuals who were killed in an automobile accident sued a major automobile manufacturer alleging a defect in the vehicles caused the accident and the resulting deaths.
- Obtained defense verdict for a major automotive manufacturer in lawsuit where a man who was rendered a quadriplegic following a rollover accident sued alleging that the roof offered inadequate protection in rollover accidents.
- Obtained defense verdict for a major automobile manufacturer in a wrongful death case where it was alleged that a driver died in a fuel-fed fire as a result of a defective fuel system design.
- Obtained defense verdict for a major automotive manufacturer in a wrongful death case alleging that a seat back was not strong enough to protect its occupants.
- Obtained defense verdict for two major motorcycle manufacturers in a case in Florida where it was alleged a product defect caused in a single-motorcycle accident. Jury verdict affirmed on appeal.