Cooley
Interesting selling points
- Cooley is a US law firm with strength in the communication and media, education, life sciences and technology sectors.
- Notable clients include Uber, Whirlpool, Horizon Therapeutics, Booking.com and Tata Steel.
- Range of interesting practices, including AI, aviation regulatory, blockchain, fintech and education.
- Chambers and Partners has awarded the firm a Band 1 ranking for its Life Sciences department.
- Advises pre-seed and seed stage businesses (see here) as well as large corporates, suggesting lawyers have the opportunity to gain exposure to businesses at various stages in their life cycles.
- Flexible training contract, with no mandatory seat choices.
- The firm takes on a small number of trainees per year (~4) from its London summer programme.
- The firm has extended its commitment to diversity and inclusion by offering a Diversity Fellowship to UK and US law students who show a commitment to diversity and inclusion.
- Well integrated into the innovation ecosystem, as demonstrated by its launch of CooleyGO, an award-winning, mobile-friendly online resource centre for investors and entrepreneurs at technology companies at all stages of the growth cycle.
We cover these selling points in more detail below, alongside other relevant firm facts and characteristics.
Practice areas / services
Cooley is a full-service law firm, with a number of practice areas including:
- Alternative Data Monetization & Governance
- Antitrust & Competition
- Antitrust Litigation & Enforcement
- Arbitration
- Artificial Intelligence
- Asset Recovery
- Aviation Regulatory
- Blockchain Technology & Tokenization
- Business Restructuring & Reorganisation
- Capital Markets
- CFIUS
- Class Action Litigation
- Commercial Litigation
- Communications Regulatory
- Compensation & Benefits
- Consumer Protection
- Copyright
- Corporate Governance & Shareholder Engagement
- Cyber/Data/Privacy
- Debt Finance
- eDiscovery & Information Retention Counselling
- Education
- Emerging Companies
- Employment & Labour
- Environmental
- ESG & Sustainability Advisory
- Export Controls & Economic Sanctions
- False Claims Act/Qui Tam/FIRREA
- Financial Services Enforcement
- Financial Services Regulatory
- Fintech
- Foreign Direct Investment
- Fund Formation
- Global Cartel Defence
- Government Contracts
- Hatch-Waxman Litigation
- Healthcare, Life Sciences, FDA & EU Regulatory
- Insurance
- Intellectual Property
- Intellectual Property Litigation
- International Anti-Corruption/FCPA
- Investment Treaty Arbitration
- Issues & Appeals
- ITC Section 337 Litigation
- Latin America
- Law Firm Liability & Malpractice Defence
- Life Sciences Corporate Partnering & Licensing
- Life Sciences IP Litigation
- Mergers & Acquisitions
- Outsourcing
- Patent Counselling & Prosecution
- Patent Office Litigation
- Pharmaceutical & Medtech Branding
- Post Acquisition Disputes and Advisory
- Private Equity
- Pro Bono
- Product Compliance & Product Litigation
- Public Companies
- Public Company Advisory Team
- Public International Law
- Real Estate
- Real Estate Litigation
- Securities Litigation + Enforcement
- Shareholder Activism
- Social Impact
- Sponsorships, Endorsements & Promotions
- Tax
- Technology Transactions
- Trade Secret Litigation & Dispute Counselling
- Trademark, Copyright & Advertising
- Trials
- Venture Capital
- Venture Capital Litigation & Dispute Counselling
- White Collar Defence & Investigations
Chambers and Partners, a leading analyst of the legal market, has awarded Cooley its highest ‘Band 1’ ranking for the following departments: Life Sciences: Transactional. See here for more information
Key sectors / industries
Cooley works with a number of high-profile clients, with its most profitable clients operating in the following sectors:
In addition, Cooley also services the following industries: Aviation: Manned & Unmanned, Blue Economy, Cleantech, Ecommerce + Marketplace, Fashion, Apparel & Beauty, Food & Beverage, Manufacturing, National Security, Retail & Consumer Products, Gig Economy, Sports & Entertainment, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, and Venture Capital.
Work
Cooley works with a number of high-profile clients, including:
- Uber: Uber is a long-standing client of Cooley. The firm advised Uber on its agreement to acquire leading on-demand alcohol marketplace Drizly for approximately $1.1 billion in stock and cash.
- Whirlpool: The firm has been the sole legal representative for Whirlpool in the Grenfell Public Inquiry set up by the UK government in the wake of the Grenfell fire.
- Horizon Therapeutics: Cooley helped to secure a victory on behalf of Horizon Therapeutics in connection with a US Federal Trade Commission legal challenge to Amgen’s proposed acquisition of Horizon for $27.8 billion.
Offices / global footprint / expansion
Headquarters: Palo Alto, 3175 Hanover Street.
Offices: The firm has 18 offices in total, including 12 offices in the US , 4 offices in Asia and two in Europe (including its London office).
Insights, internships and other opportunities
Cooley runs a London summer programme, which applicants wanting to gain a training contract at the firm must apply for (the firm recruits trainees solely from the programme). It runs for two weeks with ~10 participants, and is designed to provide an insight into life at the firm.
The firm also runs a UK Diversity Fellowship for a student committed to diversity and inclusion The fellowship is two years long and gives fellows the opportunity to learn about the firm’s working environment, develop relevant skills, and network during the first year, before undertaking the formal summer programme in their second year. The firm also awards the fellow a bursary of up to £12,000 to assist with university/law school tuition.
Additionally, the firm runs a “Meet Cooley” event, which is aimed at those wanting to apply for the firm’s summer programme, as well as “Meet and Greet” events for those early on in their degrees.
Training contract
Cooley takes on four trainees per year. The training contract is divided into four six-month seats. Trainees will likely sit in two contentious departments, which can include general commercial disputes, white collar crime, insurance, IP, employment and product liability. The other seats will be in corporate commercial/transactional areas, which can include M&A, private equity and venture capital, public companies, capital markets, technology transactions, cyber/data/privacy, compensation and benefits, life sciences, competition, and/or tax.
Throughout the training contract, trainees attend a professional skills course, complete a comprehensive in-house training programme, and benefit from direct support from an assigned supervisor, a trainee buddy in the year above, and a partner mentor. Trainees can also access bespoke coaching services to help achieve professional goals.
Secondments
The firm does not offer either client or international secondment opportunities.
Technology and innovation
Cooley invests “significant time and resources” in implementing and developing the tools, systems and infrastructure necessary to transform the client experience. Examples of such work include:
- Cooley GO: the firm created this award-winning microsite to provide start-ups with access to cost-effective guidance and core legal documents. Given the lack of funding experienced by many companies early in their journeys, this microsite is designed to make legal advice and documents more accessible.
- Cooley SCORE: The firm created an internal database that leverages data to help lawyers efficiently identify deal term trends in the context of M&A and venture financing.
- FINIQ: The firm has enabled better practice management through FINIQ, a powerful proprietary Cooley tool - built alongside Iridium - which provides access to current and historical financial and client data.
Corporate social responsibility
Cooley, through its pro bono work, seeks to empower “individuals to seek justice and opportunity”. Its work in this area includes:
- The Statelessness Project: Cooley combined its skills and resources with Asylum Aid and 11 other law firms to provide pro bono assistance to the Statelessness Project, which aims to help combat statelessness within the UK, creating lasting and dramatic change in an area of significant public importance.
- Nakia Roy: Cooley helped to secure two significant rulings for Nakia Roy before the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. Roy had served nearly 23 years in prison, and the ruling granted Roy compassionate release and overturned his conviction for second degree murder.
- American Civil Liberties Union Reproductive Freedom Project: The firm partnered with the project to file a federal lawsuit on behalf of the Women’s Health Center of West Virginia and a physician abortion provider, challenging West Virginia’s House Bill 302, a near-total abortion ban passed in September 2022.
Diversity and inclusion
Diversity is “embedded in Cooley’s culture”. This is evidenced by the following examples:
- Affinity Groups: the firm’s affinity groups are open to all Cooley lawyers and were formed to be a forum and resource for support and awareness across the firm. The groups work to enhance recruiting, retention, training and promotion initiatives.
- Cooley’s Women’s Initiative: The initiative was created to attract, retain and mentor a strong network of women lawyers. Members of the initiative work together to develop programmes, mentoring opportunities and social events throughout the year.
- Diversity Fellowship Programme: the firm has established two fellowship programmes (in the US and UK) to help outstanding Law students who share the firm’s commitment to diversity. Award recipients receive paid summer associate positions and monetary awards to assist with Law school tuition.