Cook instills confidence in clients, colleagues

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Although Maggie Cook has long had an interest in the law, she hadn’t always planned to go to law school.

Working as a paralegal at Godfrey & Kahn, she discovered the elements of the job she enjoyed most — such as being at the forefront of solving problems and advocating in court — required a law degree.

“I have a great desire to help people solve their problems,” Cook said. “I enjoy triaging those client concerns to get the best result possible for them.”

She earned her degree and returned to Godfrey & Kahn as an associate in 2009. In the decade since, Cook has had remarkable success in her case work and service to others.

Developing a niche practice in labor and employment litigation dealing with wage and hour claims, Cook has won favorable outcomes for clients and become recognized as the go-to associate in her specialty, according to her colleagues.

As part of a trial team for a complex real estate matter in Milwaukee County Circuit Court, Cook earned the praise of the client, her colleagues and her fellow counsel, not to mention the trial judge.

Her experience, poise and brilliance in strategic thinking amount to a strength that ingrains confidence in not only her clients but also her fellow lawyers and others in the courtroom.

“I really feel like she embodies what it means to be an excellent lawyer and a litigator,” said Godfrey & Kahn Associate Nina Beck. Beck said Cook has been one of her most trusted mentors and friends since Beck joined the firm in 2012.

Cook worked her way up through the firm’s Summer Associates Program, which she has now been the chairwoman of for the past two years. As a mentor, Cook gives gratuitous praise, direction and maintains an open door for those who are seeking help.

“I go out of my way so people know I’m here to support them,” Cook said.

She has served on the Milwaukee Bar Association Board of Directors since 2015 and devotes much of her time to the Association for Women Lawyers, the Marquette Mobile Legal Clinic and the Defense Research Institute.

“She has all these attributes that every lawyer should want to have,” Beck said.