It didn’t hit Circuit Judge Mallory Cooper until about a month ago.
That’s when the paperwork came in. Retirement paperwork. Filling out details about her last day, Dec. 18, and the portrait ceremony the day before.
“All of the sudden, here it is,” she said. “It’s going to happen.”
She doesn’t want it to happen, though.
Her legal career started almost 20 years later than most of her peers. It’s ending sooner than she’d like because state law requires judges to retire at age 70.
“I don’t feel good about it at all,” Cooper said, her calm, steady voice dropping a pitch.
She has plenty to keep her busy. A 1-year-old granddaughter, a passion for decorating and work she can pick up as a senior judge. But she’s not ready to walk away from a career heavily influenced by “Daddy,” longtime Judge William Durden, and an always supportive mother.
It’s a career that hasn’t had many stops. Just a decade at the State Attorney’s Office, followed by almost two on the bench.
Throughout that time she’s been involved with some high-profile cases. And possibly one more next year, if things work out as she hopes.
A delayed decision to become a lawyer
A Jacksonville native, Cooper grew up on the Southside in a supportive family with an affinity for the law.
It all started with “Daddy,” who grew up extremely poor but ended up successful with the help of his wife, Agnes. Durden’s career included serving as the consolidated city’s first general counsel, as executive assistant (now known as lieutenant governor) to former Gov. LeRoy Collins and a circuit judge.
The Durdens always wanted the best for their five children, which included receiving as much education as possible. Several followed their father’s path into law.
Cooper said her father was known for being soft-spoken, patient and equitable in his decisions. It’s a temperament she’s tried to emulate in her career. One that didn’t begin in law.
She married Bill Cooper, who was just wrapping up his first year of law school at Florida State University when the Marines came calling for a tour in Vietnam. After three years at war, he returned to finish his law degree.
Mallory Cooper wanted to go to law school then. Her father wanted that, too. But the timing wasn’t right. The Coopers were in their later 20s and just getting started.
“We felt like we were really behind everybody else,” she said. “Which we were.”
Cooper said she didn’t want to ask her husband to stay in Tallahassee any longer. Besides, she didn’t know if she’d even get accepted to law school. So it was back to Jacksonville to get settled.
Bill Cooper ended up working with Durden in private practice and gaining experience. Mallory Cooper used her design degree and decorating passion to work Downtown at clothing stores Purcell’s and Nancy Scott.
They had two children, Collins and Cameron. When both were in school, Mallory Cooper made a decision. If she ever needed to support her family, she said, practicing law would be more stable than opening a decorating business.
This time, the timing was right for law school at FSU.
She made the three-hour drive Sundays and returned home Friday mornings. One of her sisters or an au pair looked after Collins and Cameron weekdays while their parents worked and studied.
“It was tough,” she said.
But the struggle was worth it. She received her law degree two days before she turned 40.
Starting career as a prosecutor
In 1987, she took a position at the State Attorney’s Office working for Ed Austin.
Her first couple of years were spent in Clay County, where she handled a variety of cases. Delinquency, dependency, some felony trials, all experience she appreciated.
Soon, it was back to Duval County, where she eventually became chief of the juvenile division.
“It was a great environment,” she said, listing off a dozen people who worked at the office during those years and went on to become judges themselves.
Being a judge wasn’t anything she planned but a glut of openings in 1996 made her decide to go for it.
She didn’t have to turn far for advice. Her husband and parents along with brothers and sisters pitched their support on the campaign. They made calls, put up signs, visited the community — it worked.
Cooper was elected to county court in 1996, taking office in January 1997.
She entered the judicial world a little nervous, not so much about the criminal side as the civil. A decade as an assistant state attorney helped. The civil side just took a little bit of time.
She was assigned to dependency court for a couple of years, more than enough for her.
“It’s not a happy place,” she said.
However, Cooper has no complaints over any role she’s had.
“Not a day since I left law school have I not been excited to go to work,” she said.
In January 2006, she received a call from former Gov. Jeb Bush. It ended up being one of the biggest compliments of her career, she said.
She was moving from county to circuit court.
Away from the bench
Cooper said she thinks she’s a better judge than a prosecutor. She’s more comfortable, able to see both sides of a situation.
She’s been in felony and repeat offender court since moving to circuit. It’s a courtroom often filled with emotions of loss and anger stemming from violence and tragedy.
Death penalty cases are ones she’ll never forget, but there are others, too.
Tyrone Hartsfield was sentenced to life in prison for shooting and paralyzing Jacksonville Jaguars lineman Richard Collier.
Cooper also presided over the case of Cristian Fernandez, the 12-year-old charged in the death of his 2-year old half-brother.
Emotion-charged courtrooms are where Daddy’s temperament has helped.
Calm. Patient. Able to compartmentalize feelings.
“You just have to reach a fair and just conclusion,” she said. “Emotion plays no part.”
Outside the courtroom, though, there is plenty of emotion.
Life away from the courtroom
At the top of Cooper’s list of hobbies might be college football and that longstanding knack for decorating.
On Saturdays, it’s early to rise — pregame shows before the real pregame shows followed by a day’s worth of action.
Both sons played in college. Collins was a kicker at the University of Florida, Cameron was a walk-on at the University of Central Florida. She knows the preparation, training and dedication college players face and wants them all to succeed.
“I don’t want anyone to drop a pass,” she said. “No missed assignments, no missed kicks. I want every kid to do what they’re assigned to do.”
Wouldn’t that end in ties, though?
“I can’t help that,” she said, laughing.
Cooper doesn’t just sit and watch the games, though. She’s usually making breakfast, doing laundry or other chores.
During this time of year, there’s a good chance she’s decorating. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, a series of holidays that lend themselves to creative décor.
Christmas always has been her favorite. A tree in every room, the house decked to the nines.
Her birthday is a week before, which provided an added bonus growing up. She was allowed to pick out the family tree and carefully decorate it with icicles. Her siblings weren’t always as meticulous.
“They would just take gobs and put them on,” she said, then laughed. “I would get really upset.”
This year, though, her birthday isn’t as happy.
Hoping for more
In the state of Florida, judges turning 70 are forced to resign.
“I understand why somebody my age might be ready to retire,” she said. “They might have had the full experience. … I haven’t had it.”
Eventually, she said, they’ll change the age limit. But not in time for her.
Her granddaughter, Hannah Mallory Cooper, doesn’t live far away. There are projects in the house, tasks that have built up over the years.
There’s painting, but not like typical wall painting. No, for the decorator, it’s painting a sky motif in the circular ceiling parts of her home.
“I’m pretty good,” she said.
After a mandatory month-long hiatus, she’ll be back in the courthouse for a post-conviction hearing at the end of January.
“I’m going to work as much as they’ll let me,” she said.
Cooper knows it won’t be fulltime work or even really part-time. But maybe at least once a month, a few days’ worth of trials would be welcome.
There also might be one last high-profile case.
She’s presiding over the case against Donald Smith, charged in the 2013 abduction, rape and murder of 8-year-old Cherish Perrywinkle.
Cooper’s waiting to hear from the chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court if she can finish that case.
“The case has had several twists and turns,” she said. “It would be a quicker resolution if I could stay on.”
If she had her way, she’d stay on much longer.
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