151 North 3rd Ave., Suite 210 Pocatello, ID 83201
Phone: 208-235-1145 / Fax: 208-235-1182
Phone: 208-235-1145 / Fax: 208-235-1182
Gary has practiced law in Pocatello since 1975. He grew up in Caldwell, Idaho, graduated from the University of Idaho Law School in 1975 and was admitted to practice before all State and Federal Courts in Idaho (1975), in Utah and Wyoming (2011), the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals (1991) and the United States Supreme Court (1995). He was also admitted to practice before the Shoshone Bannock Tribal Court (1995). Gary has served on the Magistrate Commission for the 6th Judicial District, the Idaho Supreme Court Rules committee, and the Idaho State Bar Worker's Compensation Section Governing Board. Gary was the 1999/2000 president of the Portneuf Inn of Court, a member of the American Inns of Court and was a recipient of the Idaho State Bar's 1996 professionalism award. Currently he serves on the United States Federal Court Local Rules Committee and the Idaho Professional Conduct Board. Gary is a member of the executive committee of the Idaho Federal Bar Association and is a co-chair of the professional liability section of the Idaho Association of Defense Counsel. He is also a trial judge for the Shoshone-Bannock Tribal Court. In 2010 Gary was inducted in Washington D.C. as a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. Gary received a service award from the Idaho State Bar in 2011 for his service on the Professional Conduct Board and was named an advocate of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) and as one of the state chairs for the Council on Litigation Management (CLM). He was elected to the rank of Advocate in the American Board of Trial Advocates 2011. During Gary's years of legal experience, he has tried over sixty (60) civil jury trials to verdict as lead counsel and has second-chaired numerous other civil jury trials in both state and federal courts. Gary was one of two lead attorneys in a five-and-one-half-month products liability jury trial in which a favorable verdict was obtained for his client and sustained on appeal. [Walker v. American Cyanamid Co., 130 Idaho 824, 948 P. 2d 1123 (1997)]. In 2011 Gary obtained a $1.6 Million jury verdict in Bannock County, Idaho for a customer who slipped and fell in a WalMart store. He has tried over one hundred (100) court trials and administrative hearings, including numerous cases before the Idaho Industrial Commission. Gary has also represented participants in many UM/UIM arbitrations and labor arbitrations. He has argued thirty five (35) appeals before Idaho Supreme Court, the Idaho Court of Appeals and the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Gary's litigation experience includes insurance defense, worker's compensation defense, insurance coverage issues, insurance bad faith defense, personal injury, product liability, professional malpractice, RICO, ERISA and Indian Law.
Gary has recently given continuing legal education presentations on trial practice and the Medicare Secondary Payer Act.
Gary and his wife Jane have three children. They enjoy outdoor activities such as fishing, hunting, skiing, and motorcycling.
You can reach Gary at 208-235-1145, Ext. 101
GARY L. COOPER