Background
Cooper was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and moved to San Francisco with her family in 1952.
Cooper was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and moved to San Francisco with her family in 1952.
Cooper graduated from high school in 1958 and began working as a legal secretary. She attended night classes at City College of San Francisco for five years, but did not graduate from the school. In 1971, her husband"s job was transferred to Los Angeles, and Cooper began attending Beverly Law School under a program for students who had not graduated from college.
During that time, Beverly Law School merged into Whittier College School of Law, from which Cooper received her Juris Doctor degree in 1975 as the top student in her class. Cooper served as law clerk for the Honorary Arthur Alarcon, Los Angeles Superior Court, Appellate Department
(1975–1977).
She served as Deputy City Attorney of Los Angeles, California (1977). She was Senior Research Attorney for the Honorary Arthur Alarcon, Second Appellate District, California Court of Appeal (1978–1980).
She was a Senior Research Attorney for the Honorary
Judge Woods, Second Appellate District, California Court of Appeal (1980–1983). She was Adjunct Professor, San Fernando Valley College School of Law (1980–1985).
Cooper was Court Commissioner of the Los Angeles Superior Court from 1983 to 1990. She then served as a Judge of Los Angeles Municipal Court from 1990 to 1991 and of the Los Angeles Superior Court from 1991 to 1999.
She was nominated by President Bill Clinton on July 14, 1999, to a seat vacated by Linda H. McLaughlin on the United States District Court for the Central District of California.
She was confirmed by the United States Senate on November 10, 1999, and received her commission on November 15, 1999. She served as a federal district judge until her death of lymphoma on January 15, 2010, aged 69. Cooper is portrayed briefly by actress Elizabeth McGovern in the 2015 feature film Woman in Gold.