Grant Cook has practiced law in Texas for over four decades, counseling and representing clients ranging from individuals to Fortune 500 companies.  His practice has focused on lender liability claims, securities fraud, energy contract disputes, professional liability, shareholder derivative actions, hostile takeovers, general contract disputes, common law fraud, business torts, libel and slander, intellectual property disputes, trade secrets, construction litigation, and partnership disputes. 

As a successful trial lawyer, Mr. Cook has represented clients in general civil and complex commercial litigation in federal and state courts, at both the trial and appellate level. He has been a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers since 1983, and has been named to the list of Best Lawyers in America – 2007; Texas Super Lawyers, Texas Monthly; 2003-2004, 2006, 2007; and Houston's Top Lawyers, H Texas; 2004, 2006. Please see the Curriculum Vitae page of this website for his representative cases.

Mr. Cook is also highly skilled in the techniques of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).  ADR provides two separate but related methods to prevent and resolve disputes other than going to court in litigation: arbitration and mediation. They are, in general, faster and less expensive than litigation. 

In arbitration, the parties choose a qualified arbitrator, who acts in effect as a private judge. The arbitrator listens carefully to all parties, and considers the legal and factual issues of the matter at hand. He then issues a final decision in favor of one of the parties. While arbitration provisions in commercial agreements were not unusual more than 25 years ago, the business community has now come to use them consistently.  Almost every significant contract negotiated today has a provision providing for binding arbitration in the event of disputes over the contract.

Mr. Cook’s first service as an arbitrator occurred in 1990, when he was selected as the neutral in a three-arbitrator panel hearing a multi-million dollar dispute among a number of brokerage firms and their common customer. Since that time, he has been selected as both a party arbitrator and a neutral.

Mediation is assisted negotiation and settlement. The goal is to find mutual solutions that benefit all parties by exploring various alternatives. It is private and confidential, and the parties control the outcome. The courts have now begun to realize that mediation is one of the most effective ways to bring lawsuits to settlement. Currently, most courts in every jurisdiction, in particular in Texas, require that a case be mediated before allowing it to come on for trial.

As a trial attorney of the "old school" Mr. Cook initially viewed the concept of mediation with disdain, believing that good lawyers could always settle a case and did not need the help of a third party to do so. However, he, like most other experienced trial lawyers, came to realize that mediation indeed could help cases to settle that would otherwise go forward with lengthy and expensive trials. Several years ago, Mr. Cook completed the mediation course at the A.A. White Mediation Program at the University of Houston, and has successfully mediated a number of cases since that time.  Mr. Cook brings a unique experience to the process of mediation, given his long career in handling and trying complex commercial litigation. He believes that a mediator can be most effective in candidly telling the parties his views of the strengths and weaknesses of their case. This straightforward strategy has proved very useful.