Our Attorneys
Dale A. Cooter
Dale is an experienced trial lawyer, specializing in complex litigation, representing both plaintiffs and defendants. On behalf of plaintiff clients, he has achieved numerous multi-million dollar recoveries against major national and international corporations. He regularly appears in both state and federal courts across the nation. Licensed in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia, Dale is also admitted to the bars of United States Supreme Court, the United States Courts of Appeal for the Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Ninth, District of Columbia, and Federal Circuits, as well as the United States Court of Claims, and the federal district courts in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia.
In addition to his law practice, Dale has also served as an adjunct Professor of Law at the Georgetown University Law Center (from 1985 through 1993), where he taught courses in Commercial Law and Evidence. He served as a master of the Charles Fahey American Inns of Court in Washington, D.C. for several years in the early 1990s.
Dale was born and raised in Syracuse, New York. He attended the State University of New York at Fredonia on a New York State Regents Scholarship. In 1970 he graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in political science, and moved to Washington, D.C. to attend Georgetown University Law Center, where he served as an editor on the Georgetown University Law Journal. Dale graduated from Georgetown in 1975.
Dale never intended to spend his early years as a lawyer in one of the major Washington law firms, preferring instead immediate "hands-on" courtroom experience. His solution was to open his own law firm, which he did, along with one of his classmates. Under Dale’s leadership, the firm grew over the years to nearly 30 lawyers. In 1991, Dale realized how far away he had gotten from the pleasures of practicing law with a small group dedicated primarily to litigation. The larger firm was disbanded, and a core group of lawyers formed what is now Cooter, Mangold, Deckelbaum & Karas, LLP.
Dale can be reached by email at dcooter@cootermangold.com.