Faculty Adviser

Professor Cooney has taught writing courses for twenty years and currently teaches Research & Writing, Advocacy, and Drafting. For the past ten years, he has chaired WMU-Cooley’s Research & Writing Department.

He’s been Editor in Chief of The Scribes Journal of Legal Writing since 2013. In 2018, he shared the Center for Plain Language’s ClearMark Award (Legal Documents category) with Professor Joseph Kimble, his mentor and colleague. In 2017, the Legal Writing Institute, the Association of Legal Writing Directors, and LexisNexis awarded him a grant for empirical research on appellate courts’ use of legal authority.

Professor Cooney’s published works include a book of collected essays and more than 40 articles on legal writing, appellate practice, and tort law. His articles have been cited and quoted in court opinions and secondary sources, and his writing tips have appeared in the State Bar’s daily calendar. He has presented nationally and internationally at events sponsored by the Association of Legal Writing Directors, Clarity International, the Institute for Continuing Legal Education, the Legal Writing Institute, the Michigan Appellate Assigned Counsel System, the Michigan Appellate Bench-Bar Foundation, Michigan Defense Trial Counsel, and the State Bar’s Appellate Practice and Young Lawyers Sections.

Full bibliography can be found at: