Cottam's education and professional life were centered in Memphis, Tennessee, the seat of Shelby County and a major urban center in the western part of the state. The public university in the city, Memphis State University, is where he earned both of his documented degrees.
Cottam studied at Memphis State University, earning a Bachelor of Business Administration cum laude in 1976 and a Juris Doctor in 1980. The institution opened in 1912 as the West Tennessee State Normal School, one of three teacher-training schools created under a 1909 state law for Tennessee's grand divisions. It was renamed Memphis State College in 1941 and became Memphis State University in 1957, a name it kept until 1994, when it became the University of Memphis.
His law studies took place at the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, which opened in 1962 as part of the university's expanding professional programs. The law school held its spring commencement in May 1980, the year Cottam completed his law degree.
Cottam was a member of the Memphis State University Law Review from 1979 to 1980. The journal began in 1968 as the Memphis State University Law Commentary, a loose-leaf publication, and became a regular journal in 1970 under the name Memphis State University Law Review. It was renamed the University of Memphis Law Review in 1994 and remains a student-run legal journal.
Cottam was admitted to the Tennessee bar in 1980 and later to the Arkansas bar in 2015. His professional practice has centered on Magids Cottam PLC, a law firm with an office in Memphis, which describes itself as a boutique practice providing legal and consulting services for established enterprises and their principals. He and fellow member Jack Magids have practiced together since 1980.
Cottam's practice covers business law, real estate, trusts, estate planning and probate, and elder law. Within the firm, these areas reflect a practice model that combines transactional work for businesses with planning for individuals and families.
Cottam is a member of the American Bar Association, a voluntary national association of lawyers and law students founded in Saratoga Springs, New York, in 1878. The organization was formed by lawyers seeking a national forum for legal ethics and the administration of justice. The Tennessee Bar Association, founded in 1881, is a voluntary professional association for Tennessee lawyers that offers continuing legal education and works to maintain the honor of the profession. Cottam is also a member of the Arkansas Bar Association, the state association of lawyers admitted to practice in Arkansas, where he was admitted in 2015.
