Cook received a Bachelor of Arts from Duke University, magna cum laude, in 1984, while attending on an ROTC scholarship,[3] and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School, magna cum laude, in 1991, where he was an editor on the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy.

[3] He is also a United States Air Force veteran,[4] reaching the rank of Captain.

[5] In 2000, Cook served as a volunteer attorney for the Bush v. Gore legal battle in Florida, where he supervised the hand recounting of hanging-chad ballots.

[3] In 2021, Cook announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination to a seat on the Supreme Court of Alabama.

[6][7] Cook ran to replace retiring Justice Michael F. Bolin and faced Circuit Judge Debra Jones in the primary.