Supreme Court chooses state's next attorney general

NashvillePost.com has learned the identity of Paul Summers' successor -- UPDATED 5:20 p.m. with statement from Administrative Office of the Courts

Email | Print By Ken Whitehouse

Robert E. Cooper, Jr.

Statement from the Administrative Office of the Courts:

Robert E. Cooper, Jr., legal counsel to Gov. Phil Bredesen, was appointed Tuesday by the Tennessee Supreme Court to serve an eight-year term as state attorney general and reporter. Chief Justice William M. Barker will administer the oath of office to Cooper at 3:15 p.m. Wednesday in the Old Supreme Court Chambers at the State Capitol.

Cooper, 49, of Nashville, succeeds former Attorney General Paul Summers, who did not seek reappointment to the position.
"We are confident that Bob Cooper will be an outstanding attorney general," Barker said. "He has the legal and administrative experience and abilities needed to serve with excellence as the state's chief legal officer."

Story as originally posted:

Bob Cooper is Tennessee's new attorney general. NashvillePost.com has learned that the state's Supreme Court justices chose Cooper, chief legal counsel to Governor Phil Bredesen, over two other finalists. An official announcement is expected shortly.

Cooper, 49, is a former partner at the Nashville law firm of Bass, Berry & Sims. He is a graduate of Yale University Law School and Princeton University, and he has served as an adjunct professor at Vanderbilt University Law School. His father, Robert E. Cooper, served as a justice on the Tennessee Supreme Court from 1974 to 1990.

The other finalists were Nashville lawyer Margaret Behm and Memphis attorney Joseph E. "Jef" Feibelman. Cooper succeeds Paul Summers, who left office at the end of September after announcing in January that he would step down.