Cooper to Retire After 20 Years on Municipal Bench

Presiding Municipal Judge Lee E. Cooper Jr. announced Friday that he will retire Jan. 7, ending 20 years of service on the Ventura County bench.

Cooper, 58, of Ojai said he will remain on assignment to the court, handling trials until a successor is appointed, and then will move with his wife, Jean, to their other residence in Mammoth Lakes, Mono County.

Cooper said although he is ready to retire from the judge’s post to which he was reelected three times, he might keep his hand in the law.

“I may be sitting on assignment, I may be doing rent-a-judging or I may re-enter the practice of law” as a private attorney, Cooper said.

News of his departure struck a sad note and raised fond memories with his colleagues, who said Cooper’s leadership of the court and his 30 years’ expertise as a lawyer and judge will be missed.

“I have known Lee Cooper for nearly 30 years as an able lawyer and judge,” Presiding Superior Court Judge Edwin M. Osborne said. “He is widely recognized for his ability to settle cases. Under his leadership as presiding judge, all the judges of the Municipal Court have been extremely cooperative in joint efforts with the Superior Court when we have faced problems because of the recurrent shortage of judges.”

Longtime Municipal Judge John J. Hunter said, “Lee Cooper has been one of our most dynamic and resourceful judges over the last 20 years. We will definitely miss his expertise and experience.”

Gov. Ronald Reagan appointed Cooper Jan. 4, 1971, from private practice as a law firm partner of Sen. Robert J. Lagomarsino.

Unlike many judges who have worked almost entirely in the legal world, Cooper drew his early professional experiences from a rich variety of jobs.

Born Dec. 17, 1931, in Los Angeles, he worked as a service station attendant, dishwasher, cook, machine shop helper, sheet metal worker, real estate salesman and library clerk. He also researched case material and appeared on the ABC-TV programs “Traffic Court” and “Day in Court.”

After earning a bachelor’s degree in accounting at the UCLA School of Business Administration, Cooper studied law at the university’s School of Law, receiving his doctorate in 1960.

Cooper passed the bar and joined the district attorney’s office as a prosecutor in 1961. He joined Lagomarsino’s firm in 1962.

Cooper said he has always tried to maintain a “judicious, fair, organized, professional” atmosphere in his courtroom. But he also observed that the rising caseload has made the Ventura County court a busier, if less intimate, place.

“When I moved to Ventura County in 1960 there were about 130 attorneys in the county. I know there are now in excess of 1,000,” Cooper said. “We try to do justice in each individual case that comes along. That’s the most any human being can do, but I think the perception by the public in particularly the high-volume courtrooms may be different . . . because you may not be able to give them the time to say whatever they want to say.”