James Patrick Cooney

An attorney with Royston, Rayzor, Vickery & Williams, LLP, James Patrick Cooney represents clients in the state of Texas. His legal practice includes matters of environmental and toxic tort law, appellate law, admiralty and maritime law, and disputes and counseling for labor, employment, OSHA and discrimination. During his career, he has handled several major, high-profile cases, including the MAERSK SHETLAND collision in 1995 and the Apex Barge/SHINOUSSA collision in 1989.

Mr. Cooney graduated cum laude from the University of Notre Dame with a Bachelor of Arts before moving on to law school. In 1969, he earned his Juris Doctor from the Notre Dame Law School and was an editorial associate for the Notre Dame Law Review. Texas Monthly named him a Go To Lawyer in the State of Texas for Admiralty and Maritime Law.

He is admitted to practice in the state of Texas. Mr. Cooney is also admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, the United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eastern District of Texas and the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. He has been listed in Best Lawyers in America in Admiralty Law since 1996.

A member of the Houston International Seafarers Center, Mr. Cooney is also a member of the Houston Maritime Arbitration Association, the State Bar of Texas and the American Bar Association. He served for a time as Chairman of the Southeastern Admiralty Law Institute and was a member of the Uniformity of U.S. Maritime Law Committee within the Maritime Law Association of the United States. He currently serves as the Staff Legal Officer for District 8 Coastal Region of the U. S. Coast Guard Auxiliary