The Honourable Madam Justice Susan Cooper

Chief Justice Cooper received a Bachelor of Science in 1983 and a Bachelor of Laws in 1987 from the University of Alberta. She was called to the Northwest Territories Bar in 1988, the Alberta Bar in 1990, and the Nunavut Bar in 1999. Chief Justice Cooper was an associate at the law firm of Cooper Johnson in Yellowknife, NWT from 1988 to 1992 and practised as a sole practitioner in Yellowknife from 1992 to 1993. She practiced in Iqaluit from 1993 to 1998. She was a partner at Chandler & Cooper from 1998 to the date of her appointment. From 1999 to the appointment, she was the first Law Clerk to the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut. Her main practice areas include criminal, family, civil, child protection, municipal, administrative, employment and parliamentary law. 

Chief Justice Cooper is a member of the Law Society of Nunavut, the Law Society of Northwest Territories, the Canadian Council of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the Federation of Law Societies and the Canadian Council of Administrative Tribunals. She was Vice-Chair of the Nunavut Human Rights Tribunal and the Northwest Territories and Nunavut Safety and Compensation Commission, Appeals Tribunal. She is a director of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.

Chief Justice Cooper was appointed a Judge of the Nunavut Court of Justice in December 2009, and Chief Justice in November 2024.