yy David Ball
Staff Writer
Five years ago, Jacksonville attorney A. Hamilton “Ham” Cooke was handing out the Florida Bar Foundations “Medal of Honor” award to a deserving lawyer. But this June, Cooke found himself on the other side of the table, accepting the prestigious award at the Foundation’s 31st annual Reception and Dinner in Orlando.
“You could’ve knocked me over with a feather,” Cooke said of receiving the award. “It means a great deal to me.”
The annual “Medal of Honor” is the highest award bestowed upon an individual by Florida’s legal profession, with one given to a Florida Bar member and another to a non-lawyer. This year, Miami physician Dr. Walter F. Lambert was awarded for his longtime advocacy for abused and neglected children.
Cooke is the fifth Jacksonville lawyer to receive the award since its inception in 1977, and Orlando attorney and current Bar Foundation President Bruce Blackwell said it was Cooke’s dedication to providing fair legal services to Florida’s poor that made him the obvious choice this year.
“I was on the committee that made a selection, and we were thrilled to be able to do this because of his lifetime commitment to helping the poorest residents of Florida,” said Blackwell. “You’ll never hear a good word about Ham out of Ham’s mouth, but he is a consummate gentleman and very deserving of this award. It truly is a capstone to somebody’s life work.”
Jacksonville Bar Association Board member and Holland & Knight attorney Daniel Bean wrote the nomination, and he said after peering into Cooke’s extensive resume, it was a very easy nomination for the association to make.
“We as a board looked into his resume, it was a very easy selection to make him our nomination,” said Bean. “Just the consistency of it all. It’s amazing.
“Year after year. I don’t know how he does it. It’s just a lifetime commitment, and that’s really what the award is about.”
Cooke earned his law degree from Vanderbilt University in 1968. He now practices at Cooke & Meux in San Marco and is a Florida Bar-certified Lawyer in Wills, Trusts and Estates.
In Jacksonville, Cooke helped incorporate HabiJax and has sat on its board of directors since 2005 and performs all of the closings, along with performing many other pro bono services. He also served on the board of Learn to Read, Inc. from 1983-1987 and is a longtime member of the Rotary Club of West Jacksonville, along with various other church and community groups.
Professionally, Cooke was a member of the Jacksonville Community Relations Commission from 1977-1979, a board member of the Jacksonville Bar Association from 1977-1982 (president in 1983) and a member of the Florida Bar Board of Governors from 1987-1991.
It was during these four years that Cooke served on the Executive Committee and was chairman of the Select Committee on Comprehensive IOTA (Interest On Trust Accounts), which is where he said he accomplished some of his most significant achievements.
“Our committee split 7-7, and I cast the tie-breaking vote,” Cooke said about a rule that would require lawyers to open up interest on trust accounts for short-term or nominal client fees, with the interest earned paid to the Bar Foundation and used for legal services for the poor.
“We lost on the vote at the Board of Governors,” Cooke continued, “but when the Florida Supreme Court looked at this rule, they adopted it unanimously. It was a very big deal.”
After his tenure at the Florida Bar, Cooke served on the Florida Bar Foundation Board of Governors from 1991-2001 and worked in various functions. He served as chairman of Legal Assistance to the Poor Committee from 1995-1998 and also as board president in 2001. He currently serves on the Florida Legal Services Board of Directors.
Often described as humble and soft-spoken, Cooke said he hardly thinks he deserved such an honor, although he admits he has always had an affinity for helping all residents receive the same services and treatment under the law.
“I started practicing in 1968 after I finished at Vanderbilt,” Cooke said, “and it was also that spring that Martin Luther King was assassinated. It was like a slap in the face to me.
“I finally woke up and realized I need to try to do something that would help poor people, and try to have more contact with poor people, and try to narrow the gap between rich and poor,” he added.