Bobby Lee Cook

Bobby Lee Cook was an American defense attorney from Summerville, Georgia, in Chattooga County. He had practiced law since the late 1940s, and is known for combining a sharp legal mind with a folksy demeanor. He had represented a wide variety of clients, from rural Southerners to international businessmen and corporations. He was reputed to have been the inspiration for the television series Matlock main character Ben Matlock, which starred Andy Griffith as a Georgia attorney.

Cook was born in 1927 in Lyerly, Georgia. He attended Vanderbilt University Law School in Nashville, Tennessee. He practiced law in Summerville with the Cook & Connelly law firm.

Cook had been a defense attorney for over 65 years. He recalled a time of racial prejudice when African Americans were "required to sit in the balcony of old courtrooms". He described it as "a most unusual, extraordinary time. It was a time when no women sat on juries, and certainly no blacks."

Cook was estimated to have won 80% of his murder trials and has "estimated his annual net income at $1 million."

Bobby Lee Cook died on February 19, 2021, aged 94.