Leadership

A former judge, federal prosecutor, legal aid attorney, and legal interpreter, Jana J. Edmondson-Cooper is a seasoned consultant with nearly two decades of A2J experience. Her rare combination of experience includes presiding over thousands of civil and criminal matters, prosecuting complex and high-profile federal labor and employment enforcement matters, A2J policy evaluation and development, and training. As a federal prosecutor, she litigated complex and high-profile labor and employment enforcement matters, in federal court and administrative forums, regarding cases involving the “H” provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), MSPA, FLSA, DBA/DBRA, OSHA, MSHA and other federal labor laws.  Her federal practice also involved managing a regional U and T Visa team as well as defensive litigation of employers before the MSPB and EEOC in internal labor relations matters. In 2021, the U.S. DOL awarded her the Williard Wirtz Legacy Award, a national award given each fiscal year to one employee Department-wide in recognition of exceptional performance and accomplishments in public service that exemplifies accountability, responsibility, and emerging leadership skills that display the promise of future leadership in the spirit of former Secretary of Labor Willard Wirtz.

As a former judge, she demonstrated an excellent aptitude for effective courtroom management of high-volume dockets and presided effectively over thousands of civil and criminal matters in a fast-paced environment regarding matters involving dispossessories (evictions), civil claims (including but not limited to personal injury and employment disputes), garnishments, domestic violence/ stalking Orders, warrants, and probable cause/ bond hearings. Recognized as subject-matter expert regarding evaluation and development of access to justice policies, she developed model language access forms adopted for court-wide and statewide use. As former legal aid attorney, Ms. Edmondson-Cooper earned statewide and national recognition successfully and effectively provided bilingual legal counsel and representation to low-income individuals in administrative forums and courts of law in nearly six hundred complex family law, housing, health law, consumer, and other civil matters requiring extensive investigation, witness preparation, strategic litigation, motion practice, and settlement negotiation.

In furtherance of her commitment to access, equity, and justice, Ms. Edmondson-Cooper develops state and national curricula for training access to justice stakeholders on language access as an access to justice and due process issue. Ms. Edmondson-Cooper is a co-founder of the Eliminating Barriers to Justice (EBJ) continuing legal education series. Founded in 2014, EBJ is Georgia’s first and only comprehensive access to justice/language access-centered training for attorneys, judges, court personnel, interpreters, and other A2J stakeholders. EBJ examined access, equity, and justice from multiple perspectives including cultural competency, poverty, and an annual emphasis on ethics and professionalism. EBJ has garnered support through the years from statewide and national entities including the Georgia Judicial Council/Administrative Office of the Courts, Supreme Court of Georgia, State Bar of Georgia, the National Center for State Courts, and the U.S. Department of Justice. Additional information about EBJ may be found here.

Appointed by the Supreme Court of Georgia, Ms. Edmondson-Cooper is a member of the Judicial Council of Georgia’s Standing Committee on Interpreters (formerly Supreme Court of Georgia Commission on Interpreters) where she led the development of a model administrative protocol (MAP) – the first of its kind in Georgia  and widely considered the first of its kind nationwide in a non-unified court system– which assists the state’s judiciary with the provision of quality language services for LEP persons and persons with disabilities.  In February 2019, the Judicial Council of Georgia unanimously approved the protocol as a model guide for all Georgia Courts. In addition to judicial entities, Ms. Edmondson-Cooper has worked successfully with school districts, law enforcement agencies, and other entities to develop and implement efficient, comprehensive, written A2J/language access policies.

Ms. Edmondson-Cooper has authored several publications on A2J, including “Chapter 11: Appointing Qualified Interpreters” in the 2016 Georgia State Court Benchbook which was adopted by the majority of Georgia’s other classes of court.  In 2024, she published a comprehensive update, “Appointing and Working with Qualified Interpreters & Other Considerations for Judges in Georgia Courts, “which has also been adopted by the majority of Georgia’s several classes of courts. As a member of the Judicial Council of Georgia’s Access to Justice Committee (formerly Access, Fairness, Public Trust, and Confidence Committee “AFPTCC”), Ms. Edmondson-Cooper contributed to the development of the Access to Justice Committee’s 2017 ADA Judicial Handbook, a comprehensive judicial guide to court access for persons with disabilities. Currently, she serves on the Committee’s sub-committee working to improve access to Georgia’s courts for persons who are Deaf/Hard of Hearing. In 2023, Ms. Edmondson-Cooper co-developed “Access, Equity, Justice: A Comprehensive Nuts and Bolts Review for Georgia Attorneys and Judges Handling Cases Involving Persons with Disabilities_ A 4-Part Series”, for the Committee. The first of its kind in GA, this innovative and multi-part training provided members of the bench and bar with key insights for handling cases involving deaf/ hard of hearing court participants.

Ms. Edmondson-Cooper has been invited by several national and state organizations to discuss access to justice and language access challenges and solutions.  Those entities include the American Bar Association, Federal Bar Association, National Association of Judicial Interpreters and Translators, National Consortium of Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts, National Legal Aid and Defender Association, National Center for State Courts Council of Language Access Coordinators, U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Trustee’s Office, U.S. Department of Education, Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc., Georgia Legal Services Program,  Georgia Institute of Continuing Judicial Education, Georgia Commission on Family Violence, the Supreme Court of Georgia Commission on Interpreters, and the Supreme Court of Georgia Chief Justice’s Commission on Professionalism. Additional details about Ms. Edmondson-Cooper’s experience are available here.

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Ms. Edmondson-Cooper’s advocacy and unwavering commitment to access, equity, and justice have been acknowledged widely including recognition by the Daily Report (Georgia’s leading legal publication) as one of “40 Under 40” rising legal stars to watch, recognition by  former Governor Nathan Deal and the Georgia Commission on Equal Opportunity, selection to the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s 2023 40 under 40 Class, selection as an American Bar Foundation Fellow ( reserved for top 1% of lawyers and judges),  and recognition by the National Bar Association and the American Bar Association as one of the  nation’s top 40  lawyers under 40 who exemplify a broad range of high achievement in innovation, vision, leadership and legal and community involvement. Ms. Edmondson-Cooper is a graduate of Spelman College and Mississippi College School of Law.