William M Cox Jr
With over twenty years of experience representing clients in western Kentucky, Will is ready to provide the advice and guidance you need to navigate through a host of legal issues.
Will’s practice has a general practice scope and provides representation in most civil litigation cases, real estate transactions, estate and probate matters, business formation, and criminal matters. Will often compares his practice to that of a family doctor: “We can handle 85% of the legal issues you have, and for the other 15%, we get you into the hands of the specialist you need to get the proper care you deserve.”
Will has extensive experience in the areas of municipal law and management and government affairs and currently serves as city attorney for the cities of Nortonville and Sebree, Kentucky. Will also currently represents the Hopkins County Joint Planning Commission and the Madisonville Housing Authority.
Will graduated from the Louis D. Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville in 1999 and the University of Kentucky in 1991, and he is admitted to practice in the courts of the Commonwealth of Kentucky and in the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky.
Will is a member of the Kentucky Bar Association and the Hopkins County Bar Association, where he has previously served as terms as President, Vice President, and Treasurer, respectively.
Prior to founding the firm, Will worked in government relations and external affairs for a top national cable television operator. His duties included coordinating and negotiating with the company’s local franchising authorities in his geographic area of responsibility. He also directed the company’s successful communications effort during the 2011 retransmission consent renewal cycle, including coordinating public polling and market research activities, developing and implementing crisis communication strategies and tactics, and overseeing video ad production efforts with media consultants.
Will served two tw
o-year terms on the Madisonville City Council, being first elected in 2002 and reelected unopposed in 2004. Will was then elected Mayor of Madisonville in November 2006 and served from January 2007 to December 2010.
During his term as mayor, Will directed the City’s response to the devastating Ice Storm of 2009, the worst natural disaster in Kentucky’s history. Media outlets ranging from ABC “World News,” Fox News Channel, and the Michigan Municipal League profiled Will for his innovative leadership and communication efforts during the Ice Storm.
Prior to his city government experience, Will practiced law across Western Kentucky with the firm of Whitfield & Cox, PSC (formerly Whitfield & Calvert, PSC).
He lives on the family farm just outside Madisonville with his wife, Marci, and their two spoiled-rotten dogs: Barney and Sally.
Education
Louis D. Brandeis School of Law, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky (JD) 1999
- Chair, Honor Council
- Representative, Student Bar Association
- Team Member, ATLA Trial Practice Team
University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky (BA) 1991
- Kappa Sigma Fraternity
Memberships and Affiliations
- Kentucky Bar Association
- Hopkins County Bar Association – previously served terms as President, Vice President, and Treasurer
- Municipal Attorneys Association of Kentucky – 2024 board member
Civic & Charitable Organizations
- Delta Leadership Institute – Graduate, Class of 2009
- Leadership Kentucky – Graduate, Class of 2004
- Leadership Madisonville/Hopkins County – Graduate, Class of 1992
- Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence – Member and former Board of Directors
- Friends of Kentucky Educational Television – Board of Directors and past President
- Madisonville Noon Kiwanis Club – Member and former Board of Directors and President
- Madisonville Miners Summer Collegiate Baseball Team – Board of Directors and former Secretary
- Ohio Valley Summer Collegiate Baseball League – 2024 President