Legendary Lawyer, Loyal Alum

Earle C. Cooley, former BU Board of Trustees chair, dies at 77

By Brendan Gauthier (COM’11)

Earle C. Cooley (LAW’57), former chair of the BU Board of Trustees and a well-known Boston lawyer, died October 16. He was 77.

Cooley cofounded the Boston law firm Cooley Manion Jones, and his clients included BU, the Boston Celtics, and the Church of Scientology. He was celebrated for his adroitness in the courtroom.

Longtime friend John Silber (Hon.’95), BU president emeritus, told the Boston Globe that there was no case Cooley couldn’t win. “Earle was formidable,” Silber said. “If you had him in your corner, you were well represented. He was a very great lawyer.”

Cooley was born in Hartford, Conn. After earning a bachelor’s degree from the University of Connecticut, he graduated from the BU School of Law, where he was editor-in-chief of the Boston University Law Review and was chosen by the faculty as the outstanding member of his class.

He remained connected to BU, teaching a course in trial and appellate procedure at LAW, serving as the president of the LAW Alumni Association, and becoming a member of the BU Board of Trustees in 1971. He was chair from 1994 to 2001. He received a Boston University Distinguished Alumni Award and a Silver Shingle Alumni Award from LAW.

Brendan Gauthier can be reached at btgauth@gmail.com.

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