Alex Cook

Associate

Alex Cook offers guidance on intricate matters related to land use and zoning law in Northern Virginia and Washington, DC. Alex supports developers and landowners in navigating complex regulatory frameworks, securing land use approvals, and simplifying complicated and nuanced issues like vested development rights and zoning ordinance amendments. He brings a diverse skill set developed through experience in the military, small-business management, and running a law journal research department. Alex prides himself on being dependable, accurate, and research oriented.

As a longtime Northern Virginia resident, Alex is passionate about the legislative, administrative, and regulatory issues that affect land development throughout the region. Prior to joining Venable, Alex served as an infantry officer in the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) and later managed small businesses in the service and retail sectors in Arlington, Virginia. Through that experience, he developed a strong interest in contributing to the development projects reshaping the local community.

While in law school, he served as a student attorney with the Immigration Litigation Field Program, assisting in securing the release of immigrants from detention facilities and successfully arguing an asylum case in federal immigration court for a formerly imprisoned international refugee journalist.

Credentials
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Education

  • J.D. magna cum laude George Mason University 2025
    • Senior research editor, George Mason Law Review
    • Student attorney, Immigration Litigation Field Program
  • B.A. Architecture Columbia University 2009

Bar Admissions

  • Virginia

Community
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Personal Activities

  • Rode a bike cross-country from Portland, Oregon, to Washington, DC, alone with a tent, in one month
  • Hiked 10 consecutive 14,000-foot mountains in the Colorado Rockies off-trail and completed the Low-to-High Route connecting the lowest and highest points in the continental United States—Furnace Creek in Death Valley to Mount Whitney in the Sierra Nevada