Valerie P. Cooke has served as a United States Magistrate Judge since 1999. Prior to her appointment she was a partner in the law firm of McDonald Carano Wilson LLP where she devoted her practice to creditors’ rights in bankruptcy and commercial litigation. Judge Cooke graduated cum laude from the University of Nevada, Reno with a bachelor of arts degree in English. A third generation Nevada lawyer, she received her J.D. degree from Northwestern School of Law of Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon where she served on the law review and was a member of the Cornelius Honor Society.

Judge Cooke currently chairs the Ninth Circuit’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee, and has served as a member since 2001. She has also been committed to conducting educational programs on court-sponsored alternative dispute resolution both locally and abroad in Chile, Spain, Argentina, Malaysia, and the Marshall Islands. In addition, Judge Cooke developed the District of Nevada’s inmate litigation early mediation program and serves on the Ninth Circuit Magistrate Judges Executive Committee.

Judge Cooke served as the 2008-2009 president of the Bruce R. Thompson Chapter of the American Inns of Court and continues to be active as an emeritus master. Judge Cooke was honored as the 2001 recipient of the Outstanding Woman Lawyer of the Year Award from the Northern Nevada Women Lawyers Association, and she was president of that Association in 1990. Prior to her tenure on the bench, Judge Cooke served on the Nevada Tax Commission and the Nevada Judicial Discipline Commission.

Community involvement remains a high priority for Judge Cooke who serves as a Big Sister and was named the 2009 School-Based Big Sister of the Year by Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northern Nevada. Judge Cooke conducts presentations annually to elementary through high school students on the work of a federal judge and volunteers her time each year to serve as a high school mock trial judge. She also continues her long-standing commitment to PackPAWS, the University of Nevada Women’s Athletic Booster Group to promote gender equity and compliance with Title IX for student athletes.