The youngest staff addition at First Coast Mediation and Arbitration LLC and the Cooper Ridge law firm Downtown has her own library, office accessories and front-door station where she jumps up with a big smile to greet visitors.
Hannah Mallory Cooper is quite effective, especially considering she’s just a year old.
Perhaps she’s most effective because she’s just a year old.
“The people that come in to mediate often come in with a little bit of an attitude,” said Bill Cooper, a partner with lawyer George Ridge in both groups.
“They see a little one, and she’s pleasant most of the time. They all enjoy it,” said Cooper, known better by Hannah, his only grandchild, as “Poopsie.”
Ridge, who has three grandchildren, is known as “Poppy.”
Cooper, 70, and Ridge, 65, each count about four decades of legal experience and both are Florida Supreme Court certified mediators.
Ridge, who holds a master’s degree in analytical chemistry, has experience in insurance litigation and complex commercial and financial disputes as well as serving as counsel to bankruptcy trustees and institutional creditors.
Cooper, a Marine who served in the Vietnam War, has practiced in the areas of business and complex commercial litigation.
“There are many tales to tell,” Cooper said.
The two now focus primarily on mediation and their 140 E. Bay St. offices generally are open 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Monday-Thursday, or later as needed. When longtime legal assistant Jan DeLoach moved to the Midwest to take care of an ill family member, they needed help.
Enter Amanda Cooper, Cooper’s daughter-in-law, who was hired as the legal assistant. She is married to lawyer Collins Cooper, the son of Bill and Circuit Judge Mallory Durden Cooper. Collins Cooper is an associate with Cole, Scott & Kissane.
Cooper and Ridge set up the office so that Hannah can be there, which allows her mom and grandfather to watch her progress.
“The first day we were here, she was five months old,” Amanda Cooper recalled. “She rolled from her back to her stomach.”
Visitors at mediation often help out.
“Some men sneak out and give me advice,” Amanda Cooper said. When Hannah was spitting up, one man suggested Amanda sit the baby upright, keep her still and read to her.
“It worked like a charm,” she said.
Hannah also takes field trips. “She’s been over to visit her grandmother in the courthouse,” said Bill Cooper.
Cooper sees a future in the situation. “We’re going to start a new trend,” he said.
Amanda Cooper said they also set up an office at home for her to use when needed. “I know I’m very fortunate,” she said.
The reception area near Amanda Cooper’s desk is stocked with toys, books, a portable crib and a bouncer-jumper seat that allows Hannah some exercise and a perch from which to greet visitors with enthusiasm.
“Poopsie” comes from a nickname when Cooper was serving with the Jacksonville Beach American Red Cross Volunteer Life Saving Corps in the early 1960s.
Some girls came by to see “Coopie,” but a young German lifeguard who didn’t speak much English misunderstood the name as “Poopsie” — and it stuck.
Judge Cooper chose to be known to her granddaughter as “Mallie.”
Bill Cooper lives in a family of lawyers. In addition to him, Judge Cooper and their son, two brothers-in-law (Will Durden and Stephen Durden) are lawyers, as is Stephen’s wife, Brenna Durden. Mallory Cooper’s sister, Alison Henderson, also is a lawyer. The Durdens’ father was a Jacksonville general counsel and circuit judge.
“No doctors, no CPAs, nobody we can really use,” Bill Cooper jokes.
The family profession might continue, he said, referring to Hannah, who is 13 months old.
“Maybe she’ll be in the next in line.”
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