Conscientious and reliable. Extremely hard working. Exceptionally well prepared. Highly knowledgeable about court procedures. A person with unwavering perseverance under the most challenging of circumstances. Relentless. Experienced. Meticulous.
These are some of the ways that describe San Diego divorce attorney Andy Cook, now in his 17th year of running the Bankers Hill, San Diego law firm that he started by himself on May 8, 1995.
Part of an extremely limited percentage of California attorneys certified as family law specialists by the State Bar of California, Board of Legal Specialization, Andy Cook has been licensed to practice law before all of the courts of California since 1994 and handles nothing but divorce and other family law issues. Andy Cook has handled well over 1,000 cases, including over 40 matters that he has tried to judgment plus countless others that he has argued before dozens of judges and commissioners in San Diego County and beyond.
In addition, Andy Cook has served over 30 times as a temporary judge in the Family Support Division of the San Diego County Superior Court (in Departments 42, 43 and 44 in downtown and Department 34 in Vista). Since 2010, he has also served as a temporary judge in selected family law departments in the Los Angeles County Superior Court (including branches in downtown, Burbank, Compton, Long Beach, Norwalk, San Pedro, Santa Monica, and Torrance). He has also served over 100 times since 2007 as a temporary judge in small claims departments in the Kearny Mesa, El Cajon, and Chula Vista branches of The San Diego County Superior Court. He has also served over 50 times as a settlement conference judge for family law matters in downtown San Diego, Chula Vista, and El Cajon since 2005. Andy Cook has also served as a judge for the San Diego Teen Court program featuring sentencing determinations in actual juvenile delinquency situations since 2009. He has served nearly 30 times as a fee dispute arbitrator in San Diego County for the State of California’s Mandatory Fee Dispute Arbitration program (MFAA) for over ten years.
Andy Cook was born in New York and grew up in Mendham Twp., New Jersey (38 miles west of midtown Manhattan) and earned his B.A. in history from the University of Vermont. He spent the next six years (1984-1990) working full-time in radio broadcasting before landing in August, 1990 in San Diego, where he has lived ever since.
Andy Cook then obtained his law degree from California Western School of Law (CWSL). While in law school, Andy Cook was an honors instructor in legal writing for first year law students. He also was a member of the Traynor Moot Court Team that, among 18 schools, shared first place for brief writing and finished second in oral argument. He also was one of two students chosen from among 25 students to participate in the National Moot Court competition. Andy Cook was also listed in “Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges.”
While in law school and immediately afterward, Andy Cook was a law clerk and then an attorney at three insurance defense law firms. He was also a student intern in the Civil Division at the San Diego City Attorney’s office.
After opening his practice in 1995, Andy Cook passed the family law specialist exam and was subsequently certified as a family law specialist by the State Bar of California, Board of Legal Specialization.
Andy Cook has spoken to a variety of audiences about legal subjects. In 1999, he chaired a program for Consumer Attorneys of San Diego (CASD) called “Getting Insurance Companies to Say Yes.” He gave a lecture on family law issues to the Young and New Lawyers section of the San Diego County Bar Association (SDCBA) in 2002. He spoke for the National Business Institute (NBI) in September, 2004 about “Complex Divorce Issues for the California Paralegal” and in October, 2004 about “Handling California Divorce Cases from Start to Finish.” He was a panelist in 2005 for NBI for a course called “Divorce Law 101: Obtaining the Best Settlement for Your Client in California.” On October 9, 2007, he spoke before the San Diego Chapter of the California Society of Certified Public Accountants. On November 2, 2007, he moderated a day long panel featuring San Diego County judges called “What Family Court Judges Want You to Know.” On October 17, 2008, he was a panelist in an NBI seminar called “A Roadmap Through Divorce Proceedings”. On March 5, 2009, he was a panelist for HalfMoon Seminars on the issue of Handling Military Issues in Family Law. On September 13, 2010, Andy Cook was a faculty member for an NBI seminar entitled “Advanced Family Law”. On November 17, 2010, he moderated another “What Family Law Judges Want You to Know” seminar, again sponsored by NBI, this time featuring the Hon. Maureen Hallahan, Patricia Garcia, Gonzalo Curiel, William McAdam, Lisa Schall, and Edlene McKenzie. On December 4, 2010, he was a co-presenter of the case law and statutory update at the 28th annual Winter Seminar sponsored by the Certified Family Law Specialists of the SDCBA. Andy Cook has been a guest speaker on numerous occasions for CWSL’s elective course on starting a law practice. On February 29, 2012, he will be the sole presenter of NBI’s seminar: California Update: Family Law.
Andy Cook also represented the winning spouse in the published appeals case entitled Marriage of Stanton (2010) 190 Cal.App.4th 547 [holding that housing benefits for members of the military constitute “income” for purposes of calculating child and spousal support]. He has also testified in court as an expert witness regarding legal malpractice as it relates to family law.
Andy Cook has been court appointed to serve as minor’s counsel as well as counsel for paternity defendants, contempt citees and service members protected under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. He receives referrals from the Lawyer Referral & Information Service and the Modest Means panel of the SDCBA. He has also served on the referral panels for the ARAG, CLC, Caldwell, and Signature Insurance companies.
Andy Cook is also a member of the Association of Certified Family Law Specialists and the San Diego County Certified Family Law Specialists. He is a member of the family law sections of the SDCBA and the State Bar of California. Andy Cook is also in his fifth year as a member of Business Networking International (BNI) and is a past president of its Golden Triangle chapter. He was in LeTip International for nearly ten years immediately prior to joining BNI.
Andy Cook was a delegate for the SDCBA to the 1999 State Bar Convention. He previously served in the Domestic Violence clinic for the San Diego Volunteer Lawyer program and twice received the Wiley W. Manuel Award for Pro Bono Legal Services.
Andy Cook is a former co-chair of the Young and New Lawyers section of the SDCBA. Andy Cook was a member of the California Western School of Law Alumni Association’s Board of Directors from 1999 to 2002. He is also a past member of CASD. While with CASD, Andy Cook served on the Awards Committee that interviewed judges and lawyers to determine the recipients of outstanding lawyer awards. In 1995 and 1997, Andy Cook was a judge for the same Traynor Moot Court competition in which he competed in law school, and in 2006, 2007, and 2010, he was a judge for the University of San Diego’s McLennon Honors Tournament.
In January, 2011, Andy Cook returned to his alma mater, CWSL, and served as a judge for a “1L” trial advocacy competition. In February, he was back at the law school as a judge for the Lynch Appellate Competition, named for Prof. William Lynch – Andy Cook’s National Moot Court competition coach nearly 20 years ago.
Andy Cook enjoys travel, sports, reading, and history. He is married and has two children.
