Susan E. B. Cook

Sue Cook is a business and estate and trust planning attorney serving clients across Virginia and North Carolina. She counsels individuals, families, and fiduciaries in matters of legacy planning, trust and estate administration, and fiduciary representation. In addition to advising executors and trustees, Sue serves directly in those roles when clients decide a professional fiduciary is needed. She also collaborates closely with the firm’s litigation department in resolving disputes involving trusts, estates, and fiduciary responsibilities.

In addition to her trusts and estates practice, Sue advises businesses as outside general counsel on corporate organization and governance, transactions, acquisitions, and succession planning. She frequently works with business owners and their fiduciaries to align company restructuring and continuation planning with broader family and legacy goals. Within Woods Rogers, Sue serves on the Associate Development Committee, where she helps shape training and development programs for young attorneys.

Since joining Woods Rogers in 2016, Sue has guided hundreds of families, fiduciaries, and companies through both immediate legal issues and long-term planning. Her peers have consistently recognized her professional excellence through The Best Lawyers in America “Ones to Watch,” Virginia Business magazine’s “Legal Elite,” and Super Lawyers as a “Rising Star.”

Sue currently serves on the Board of Governors of the Community Foundation Serving Western Virginia and is active in a range of professional and civic organizations.

Sue received her law degree from William & Mary Law School, where she was a member of the Journal for Women and the Law, a teaching assistant for a first-year doctrinal course, and the recipient of the T.C. Clarke Law Fellowship, a scholarship award based on collegiate and professional achievements made prior to entering law school. In addition, Sue participated in the Federal Tax Clinic, Elder Law Clinic, Domestic Violence Clinic, and Family Law Clinic, representing clients who lacked the means to obtain representation elsewhere.

A native of Chesapeake, Virginia, Sue graduated summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, from Virginia Tech with a double major in Philosophy and Psychology. While at Virginia Tech, Sue served as the Vice-Chair of the Commission on Student Affairs, President of the Panhellenic Council, and received the A. Alan Baird Award for her outstanding leadership in the residential life community.

Recognition

Education

William & Mary School of Law, J.D.

Virginia Tech, B.A., summa cum laude

Admissions

Virginia

North Carolina

U.S. Tax Court

• American Bar Association
• Community Foundation Serving Western Virginia, Board of Governors (2024-present)
• Presbyterian Community Center, Board of Directors (2019-2021)
• Roanoke Bar Association
• Roanoke Valley Estate Planning Council

Bursting Bubbles and Burden Shifting: Supreme Court of Virginia Reverses Jury Finding of Undue Influence… [PDF], Roanoke Bar Review