Standing Up for Individuals, Families, and Companies that Care

Wren | Cook | Murphy exists to protect communities and their families—and to stand up for businesses that honor the trust we place in them. When companies choose unsafe or unfair business systems—sacrificing safety and fairness for the sake of additional company profit—we work to hold them fully accountable. Our goal is simple—to protect people from catastrophic harm and to protect honest businesses from being driven out by competitors who decide to cut corners on safety and legalities.

High-Stakes Litigation for Real Change

  • We take on a select number of high risk and high dollar cases against big companies—unsafe freight brokerage and logistics practices, medical device makers that put dangerous products on the market, insurance companies that dodge fair payments, and others—when they knowingly use unsafe systems to gain a competitive advantage.

  • When those systems cause catastrophic personal injuries or wrongful deaths, we fight for justice for individuals and their families.

  • When those systems enable predatory cost-cutting that threatens to drive safer competitors out of business, we pursue claims for the massive commercial losses inflicted on honest companies.

  • We do this through extensive investigations, unique collaborations with industry insiders, and a desire to discover the truth instead of just blaming an entire industry.

Merely demonizing all businesses without recognizing the good people and honest companies that work to protect people does not solve the problem. That approach ignores the root cause. Our purpose as trial lawyers is to think deeply beyond partisan lines and look for solutions that make our communities into better places to live. At Wren | Cook | Murphy we take that mission seriously. We know it leads to better results, not only for suffering families and the companies that are working to do things the right way, but also for the betterment of fellow Americans who must depend on businesses to work ethically and safely. Bad actors win when they divide and conquer us, placing trial lawyers and the industry against each other instead of working in collaboration to remove those who cheat the system.

A Balanced, Solutions-Driven Approach

In addition to landmark and record-setting recoveries for individuals and families who have lost so much, our focused litigation has led to major business reforms, including:

Results That Make a Difference

  • Vehicle recalls by a major auto manufacturer.

  • Inward-facing safety cameras for a large oilfield supplier.

  • Cell phone use bans for drivers at a Fortune 500 company.

  • Increased vetting criteria for freight brokerage company. 

We stand for those who do what’s right—and challenge those who promote higher company profit over doing what’s right. When unsafe or unfair systems threaten lives or livelihoods, we believe in stepping in the gap for society and our clients to solve the issue.

Why We Exist

Our Team

  • Contact: jim@wrencookattorneys.com

    Jim has trained thousands of attorneys across the country in trial work.

    He has more than 40 years of trial experience spanning a multitude of major personal injury, wrongful death, and business litigation jury trials. He is board certified in Civil Trial Law by the National Board of Trial Advocacy and in both Personal Injury Trial Law and Civil Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

    Jim has served as national president (2009-2011) of the National Board of Trial Advocacy, and as a founding chapter president (2003-2005) and again as a recent chapter president (2024-2025) with the American Board of Trial Advocacy (ABOTA). Until stepping away from the full-time tenured faculty of Baylor Law School to return to full-time trial practice in early 2025, he also served as the Leon Jaworski Chair of Practice & Procedure, the director of the Baylor Practice Court program, and co-director of the Baylor LL.M. in Litigation Management. He still teaches Advanced Trial Prep at Baylor Law as an adjunct professor.

    Jim is an author or co-author of multiple books, articles, and CLE papers relating to civil litigation, including the latest book edition of Proving Damages to the Jury co-authored with Laura Brown (James Publishing, San Francisco, 2025). He is a graduate of Trial Lawyers College and a current director of Litigation Mastery, an educational non-profit training program focused on helping plaintiff lawyers move to the next level in their litigation careers.

  • Contact: louie@wrencookattorneys.com

    Growing up in Waco as the son of a small business owner, Louie recognized early on the value honest entrepreneurship brings to our community and the damage that can be done when competitors cheat the rules. From an early age Louie’s father taught the concepts of authenticity, humility, audacity, creativity, and wisdom as the drivers in industry and personal life – not soaring profits at all cost. Louie watched his father lose out at times to businesses that did not hold the same values, which to this day acts as his inspiration to practice law.

    After attending Oklahoma Baptist University on a cross-country and track scholarship Louie attended Baylor Law (on student loans, credit cards, his wife’s paycheck, and a lot of prayer) where he graduated magna cum laude. Louie also won the prestigious Mad Dog and Dawson Sodd Mock Trial/Moot Court competitions and served as an editor on Baylor’s Law Review.

    During his practice, Louie has had the privilege of representing families and businesses in over 20 states. These cases have ranged as wide as unfair trade practices, product failures resulting in death, to oilfield explosions.

    Currently, Louie’s role as a safety advocate has been focused on addressing unfair labor dumping by wall-street run mega fleets and brokers in the trucking industry. These practices have resulted in countless fatalities as well as loss of long-held family businesses. Some of the safest family owned trucking companies in the country along with countless families of victims have partnered with Louie to bring these dangerous practices to light.

    Louie is married to his college sweetheart Nadia Cook. In their spare time Louie and Nadia enjoy creating and playing live music, surfing, and trying to keep up with their daughter.

    Louie’s Core Values passed along from his father are as follows: 

    1. Authenticity: Let your yes mean yes and your no mean no.

    2. Humility: Elevating those around you through servant leadership.

    3. Audacity: Growing through making the uncomfortable and often unpopular decision when necessary.

    4. Creativity: Looking to different disciplines, fields of study, and art to solve complex and unorthodox problems.

    5. Seeking Wisdom: Continually seeking the truth and distinction between right and wrong.

    Louie believes that by following these core values he along with his clients can make a positive societal impact by making our world a safer and more fair place to live.

  • Contact: paul@wrencookattorneys.com

    A proud U.S. Air Force veteran, Paul frequently serves as lead counsel in high-exposure litigation, where his disciplined and strategic approach has led to numerous successful outcomes. His military background instilled in him a strong sense of integrity, resilience, and a sharp tactical mindset—all of which have been instrumental in shaping his legal career. These qualities, paired with his extensive trial experience on both sides of the courtroom, have allowed him to build a comprehensive and versatile skill set.

    Throughout his career, Paul has earned a stellar reputation for his tenacious advocacy. For the past 20 years, Paul has been Board Certified in Personal Injury Law by the Texas Borad of Legal Specialization. He was also selected as a member of the American Board of Trial Attorneys. As a corporate defense attorney, he secured successful verdicts for individuals and corporations in cases throughout Texas, particularly in high-stakes litigation involving transportation and personal injury. His insider knowledge of defense tactics, gained through years of hands-on experience, gives him a critical edge when advocating for plaintiffs.

    Now, in his role at Wren Cook Murphy, Paul focuses on representing safe trucking companies who have been unfairly damaged by unethical trade practices and families who have lost loved ones due to the unsafe sub-contracting practices of wall-street mega fleets and freight brokers.

    Paul’s years as defense counsel equip him with the ability to thoroughly assess each case from all angles. He analyzes a case’s strengths and weaknesses early on, anticipating defense strategies and crafting preemptive legal tactics. His dedication to exploring every possible legal avenue ensures that our clients receive the best possible outcomes. With his defense background now working for plaintiffs, Paul brings an unmatched level of strategy, experience, and advocacy to Wren Cook.

  • Contact: liz@wrencookattorneys.com

    Elizabeth M. Fraley is a tenured Professor at Baylor Law School who serves as director of and teaches Practice Court.  She holds the Leon Jaworski Chair of Practice and Procedure. She serves as Dean and faculty at the School of the Trial, Academy of the Advocate in St. Andrews, Scotland and is called on often to teach ethics and evidence to judges and to attorneys in their trial practice.  Liz is an actively practicing attorney with more than 35 years of trial and mediation experience.  In addition to trying select cases, she now adds value as a jury and litigation consultant, offering unique and insightful assistance with case development, jury testing, theme development, overcoming evidence challenges, and crafting the jury charge. Her approach and expertise create efficiency and effectiveness in litigation for her client. 

    Prof. Fraley has frequently been named a Texas Super Lawyer and was a D Magazine “Best Lawyers in Dallas” annually from 2011-2021. She was awarded the Louise B. Raggio award in 2023 by the Dallas Women’s Lawyers Association. The Raggio is presented to a lawyer who has demonstrated the highest levels of professionalism while making significant contributions to the advancement of women attorneys.  A member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), Fraley is past president of the Waco Chapter, a national board member and chairs the ABOTA Artificial Intelligence committee. She serves as faculty for the Judicial Education Conference, teaching evidence to sitting judges.  She is author of the updated Practical Guide to Texas Evidence, co-author of Fundamentals of Lawyer Leadership, and co-author of Texas Commercial Causes of Action as well as numerous articles on jury trials, evidence, leadership, AI, and litigation management and mastery. Prof. Fraley speaks in Texas and nationally on trial skills, litigation management and litigation mastery, virtual advocacy, leadership civil procedure and evidence.  An avid runner and traveler, she is the mother of six children.

Our Story

Wren | Cook | Murphy is a unique partnership founded by Jim Wren, Louie Cook, and Paul Murphy. The formation of our firm is rooted in a shared purpose: to improve lives by tackling systemic problems through focused, high-impact litigation. We came together from diverse backgrounds but were united by a common conviction—that the law can and should be a powerful force for societal change.

Louie Cook began his legal career at a high-stakes personal injury firm in South Texas representing individuals and families in catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases. Over time, Louie came to believe that legal advocacy could achieve more than individual victories—it could drive change at the industry level. He envisioned a practice focused not only on justice for victims, but also on reforming the dangerous systems that cause harm in the first place.

Around this time, Louie had lunch with his longtime mentor and former law school professor, Jim Wren. Jim, a respected trial lawyer and law professor known for his strategic litigation mindset, shared Louie’s vision. What began as a conversation about the role of the legal profession in society soon evolved into a partnership dedicated to creating lasting impact through the courtroom.

While Louie and Jim were exploring this new direction, Louie was litigating a complex trucking case in which Paul Murphy represented the defendant carrier. Despite being on opposite sides, Louie and Paul discovered a shared background rooted in southern Oklahoma values and a mutual commitment to safety. Paul had built a reputation representing only the safest trucking companies—those committed to doing things the right way. As their conversations deepened, they realized that their philosophies were more aligned than opposed.

Together, the three attorneys began to analyze the deeper problems plaguing the American freight industry, including the rise of unsafe freight brokerage practices, the erosion of labor standards, and the exploitation of vulnerable drivers. They recognized that their unique combination of experiences—plaintiff and defense, academic and practical, corporate and grassroots—positioned them to go beyond the surface and attack the root causes of systemic harm.

That shared vision led to the founding of Wren | Cook | Murphy. From day one, the firm’s mission has been clear: to serve clients with humility, pursue justice relentlessly, and build coalitions inside and outside the courtroom that create meaningful change. The firm is guided by the belief that society works best when we focus on what unites us—not what divides us. When we allow ourselves to be distracted by division, those responsible for the harm avoid accountability.

At Wren | Cook | Murphy, we fight to keep that from happening. We believe that by staying true to our values—and to each other—we can help build a safer, fairer society for everyone.

Contact Us

Louie Cook
louie@wrencookattorneys.com

Paul Murphy
paul@wrencookattorneys.com

Jim Wren
jim@wrencookattorneys.com

Liz Fraley
liz@wrencookattorneys.com