Nashville Mayor John Cooper announced that Bob Cooper will resign as Metro Director of Law to return to private practice with a planned departure date in early June.
Mayor Cooper has appointed Nashville attorney Wallace W. Dietz as Metro’s next legal director.
This, according to a press release that Mayor Cooper’s staff emailed this week.
“Bob Cooper has led the Metro Department of Law since November 4, 2019. He served as Tennessee Attorney General from 2006 to 2014. He will rejoin the Nashville-based law firm of Bass, Berry & Sims, where he worked prior to joining Metro,” the press release said.
Mayor Cooper said Bob Cooper “led the legal fight to defeat a charter amendment last fall that would have destroyed Metro’s financial recovery. And he enabled Metro Police and our Community Oversight Board to successfully establish their formal working relationship.”
Bob Cooper filed a 44-page legal complaint in Davidson County Chancery Court last year to fight Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee’s Education Savings Account Pilot Program. Bob Cooper filed the complaint on behalf of three plaintiffs: the Metro Government, the Metro Nashville School Board, and the Shelby County government.
Bob Cooper, according to a 2019 press release, has also taught at Vanderbilt Law School as an adjunct professor of law. He is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, Tennessee Bar Foundation, and Nashville Bar Foundation. Cooper holds a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and a J.D. from Yale Law School, where he was managing editor of the Yale Law Journal.
Incoming director Wally Dietz chairs the Compliance & Government Investigations Practice Group at Bass, Berry & Sims in Nashville, where he focuses on international anti-corruption and corporate governance litigation. He has 35 years of experience as a practicing attorney the press release said.
Dietz previously served as a legislative assistant and media aide to former U.S. Sen. Jim Sasser. He graduated from Georgetown University Law Center.
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
Can we rid ourselves of ALL these terrible Coopers?
I hope Mr Cooper serves his new clients better than he has Metro Government! I think the optics and contradictions from Mr Cooper and his office has been bad optics for him in regards to his latest legal battle with the 4Good government group! The timing of his departure makes me think he will not be here for the legal battle with the latest effort to let the people vote on the property tax increases? Jim Roberts has racked up a good victory here to have the citizens rights to vote and Bob Cooper departing before the vote! Bass Berry and Sims just lost my business!
What’s news about this, one leftist progressive democrat replacing another. Commie Cooper probably was not happy about the tax referendum getting close to a vote, Comrade Cooper’s policy is to never allow the citizens to have a voice when it comes to your money for his dictatorship.
Rick – You are so right!