He was in private practice in Anderson for various periods from 1889 to 1923, and was also a United States Commissioner for the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina from 1889 to 1891.
He was an Assistant United States Attorney of the District of South Carolina from 1891 to 1892 and from 1898 to 1905, also serving as Anderson's city attorney from 1898 to 1900, and was the United States Attorney for the District of South Carolina from 1906 to 1914, and for the Western District of South Carolina from 1921 to 1923.
[1] Cochran received a recess appointment from President Calvin Coolidge on November 22, 1923, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of South Carolina vacated by Judge Henry Augustus Middleton Smith.
He was nominated to the same position by President Coolidge on December 15, 1923.
His service terminated on March 4, 1934, due to his death in Charleston, South Carolina.