---
title: "Deborah L. Cook | KnowJudges"
canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/deborah-l-cook"
page_type: "judge_profile"
updated: "2026-10-07"
---

# Deborah L. Cook

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit · U.S. Circuit Judge

## Profile

- Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
- State: National federal courts
- Role: U.S. Circuit Judge
- Service status: senior
- Last verified: 2026-07-25

## Summary

Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge.

## Biography

### Professional career

- Current Role: Senior Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (since 2019)
- Judge, Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, 2003-present
- Justice, Supreme Court of Ohio, 1995-2003
- Ohio Court of Appeals Judge (1991–1995): Served on the Ninth Appellate District, covering Summit, Wayne, Medina, and Lorain counties
- Private Practice (1978–1991): Partner at Akron’s Roderick, Myers & Linton, the firm’s first female partner
- Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

### Education

- University of Akron School of Law — J.D. (1978)
- University of Akron Main Campus — B.A. (1974)

### Additional information

- Senior status assumed March 6, 2019.
- Judge, 2004-2004
- Federal Judiciary: Appointed by President George W. Bush on January 7, 2003, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
- Confirmed by the Senate 66–25 on May 5, 2003; commissioned May 7, 2003.
- Honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of Akron (1996).
- Practitioner, 1994-1994
- Private practice, Akron, OH, 1978-1991
- Date of birth: 1952-02-08
- Former president of Delta Gamma sorority and her senior class at University of Akron; member of Omicron Delta Kappa honorary society.
- Served on the Ohio Courts Futures Commission and Commission on Public Legal Education.
- Co-chairs Collegescholars, Inc., a scholarship program for disadvantaged Akron students.
- Recognized as the only woman to have played on the all-male Sharon Golf Club course.
- Birth place: Pittsburgh, PA

## Before you appear

- Read the judge-specific standing order first when one is listed.
- Check the docket and case orders for requirements that supersede broader guidance.
- Confirm current remote-access and courtroom technology arrangements before the proceeding.

## Courtroom Rules

### appellate oral argument

Scope: courtwide

In federal courts of appeals, oral argument is allowed unless a three-judge panel unanimously finds one of Rule 34's specified grounds for dispensing with it; the clerk provides the date, time, place, and time allocation.

Evidence excerpt: Oral argument must be allowed in every case unless a panel of three judges who have examined the briefs and record unanimously agrees that oral argument is unnecessary

[Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 34, Oral Argument](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-appellate-procedure)
Source checked: 2026-07-26


## Sources

- [Official profile](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1391826)
- [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1391826)
- [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1391826)
- [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/714/deborah-l-cook/)
- [Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 34, Oral Argument](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-appellate-procedure)
- [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/714/deborah-l-cook/)
- [Wikidata: Deborah L. Cook](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5248296)

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