Judge Cobbs began service as an Administrative Law Judge in the Office of Administrative Hearings in August, 2005. Previously, as a lawyer in private practice, he served as a volunteer mediator and arbitrator for the District of Columbia Superior Court Multi-Door Program. He also served as an arbitrator in the District of Columbia Bar’s Attorney-Client Arbitration Program, for which he received a special merit award in 2002. 

Judge Cobbs practiced as an associate and partner in law firms in New York City and Washington, DC from 1974 to 1989, specializing in insurance, maritime and aviation litigation. From 1989 to 2005 he was a solo practitioner in Washington, DC representing individual and corporate clients in addition to several foreign countries.

Judge Cobbs has been active in the District of Columbia Bar where he has served on the membership committee, the steering committee of the Law Practice Management Section and as chair of the Litigation Section. In 2003 he received an Exceptional Service Award from the DC Bar for his representation of the DC Legal Community in connection with pending legislation before the DC Council. He has taught courses for the DC Bar and other professional organizations on civil procedure, discovery, mediation and arbitration, transportation law, and insurance law.

Judge Cobbs is a graduate of Amherst College and the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He is a member of the New York, Maryland, Virginia, and DC Bars. He has appeared in trial courts in 12 states and the District of Columbia and has briefed and argued appeals before the United States Supreme Court and seven Federal Circuit Courts of Appeal.