Kathy Jo Cook is one of the region’s most tenacious and accomplished personal injury litigators, with a record of successful trial experience spanning nearly three decades. Her career has been characterized by grit, compassion, and the drive to fight for those who have been wronged, even from its unconventional start.
A Unique & Inspiring Journey
Kathy grew up in Champaign, Illinois. Her dad was a plumber and her mom a legal secretary. She got married right out of high school, had two kids by the time she was 20, and embarked on her career as a hairdresser. Eleven years later, she had four kids, ran a successful Beauty School in Houston, Texas, and was on the National Board of Accreditation for Beauty Schools.
But that was not what she wanted. Kathy had always wanted to be a lawyer so she could help people in need and make a difference in their lives. She set her mind to achieving that dream. She finished college by taking a double load and came to Boston for law school. At Suffolk Law School, Kathy was a star. She won the national law student trial advocacy competition and three national writing competitions.
Relentless in the Face of Adversity
Kathy began her legal career at Lubin & Meyer, P.C. during law school as a law clerk. She joined Keches & Mallen, P.C. thereafter, where she handled complex claims on behalf of injured plaintiffs for 13 years. Kathy litigated the first successful claim in Massachusetts to hold that an insurance company’s meritless appeal of an injured worker’s verdict was a bad faith insurance practice and violated the Consumer Protection Statute, securing the original multi-million-dollar judgment and an additional multi-million-dollar punitive judgment against the insurance company for that practice.
In 2010, she prevailed in Law v. Griffith, 457 Mass. 349, a case which was deemed to be one of the most important decisions of the year and one which continues to aid plaintiffs seeking damages at trial for medical expenses.
Also in 2010, Kathy achieved a significant personal and professional milestone in becoming the founder and managing partner of KJC Law Firm. There, she cultivated a highly successful team of trial attorneys dedicated to advocating for clients who suffered catastrophic injuries and wrongful death, as well as those who experienced wrongful treatment in the workplace and victims of sexual harassment, assault, and rape.
Later, Kathy served on the Steering Committee in the Columbia Gas cases, which obtained a settlement of $143 million for residents of the Merrimack Valley who suffered losses as a result of explosions there in 2018.
In 2022, under Kathy’s leadership, KJC Law Firm merged with Sheff Law Offices to form Sheff & Cook, joining forces with fellow leading personal injury litigator Douglas K. Sheff to expand the resources that can be brought to bear against some of the biggest defense firms in the country.
A Leader in the Practice of Law
Kathy’s outstanding abilities have consistently been recognized by her peers and legal observers. In 1999, she was named by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly as one of the top five “up and coming” attorneys in Massachusetts, and in 2007, she became the third lawyer ever to be inducted into the Lawyers Weekly “Hall of Fame.” In 2008, Kathy was named as one of the Top 50 Women Lawyers in Massachusetts by Law & Politics Magazine (Best of Boston), and she has been named as a Super Lawyer by that same publication every year since. In 2016, she was recognized by Lawyers Weekly as one of the Top Women of the Law, and in 2021, she was inducted into the Circle of Excellence by that same publication.
More recently, she was named as a “Best Lawyer” and her firm named a “Best Law Firm” by Best Lawyers and U.S. New & World Report. Kathy has also been rated as “AV Preeminent” by Martindale-Hubbell Law since 2006. This is the highest rating possible and is given only to lawyers who have very high to preeminent legal ability and who embrace very high professional standards. She has also been rated by Avvo as “Superb.”
In 2010, Kathy was admitted to the American Board of Trial Advocates, a distinguished organization that is open by application only to those with significant trial experience, and she currently serves as President of the Massachusetts Chapter.
Kathy is a former President of the Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys and the Women’s Bar Association of Massachusetts, where she continues to serve in leadership. She has served in numerous capacities at the Massachusetts Bar Association, the Massachusetts Employment Lawyers Association, and the Boston Bar Association.
About her work Kathy says, “My focus has always been on justice. To me justice means working to promote equality, to protect important civil rights, and to help individual people, workers and consumers when they are injured.”
Attorney Recognition
• Third ever inductee into the Lawyers Weekly Hall of Fame
• Law & Politics Magazine (Best of Boston) Top 50 Women Lawyers in Massachusetts
• Super Lawyer selectee every year since 2008.
• Lawyers Weekly Top Women of the Law
• Lawyers Weekly Circle of Excellence
• U.S. New & World Report Best Lawyer and Best Law Firm by Best Lawyers
• Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Top 5 Up and Coming Attorney
• Rated “AV Preeminent” by Martindale-Hubbell Law since 2006, the highest rating possible, given only to lawyers who have very high to preeminent legal ability and who embrace very high professional standards
• Rated “Superb” by Avvo
Professional Organizations:
• American Board of Trial Advocates (President)
• American Association for Justice, Business Interruption Litigation Committee (Massachusetts Chair)
• Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys (past President)
• Women’s Bar Association of Massachusetts (past President)
• Massachusetts Bar Association
• Massachusetts Employment Lawyers Association
• Boston Bar Association
