Cooley

With more than 1,300 lawyers practicing across the United States, Europe, and Asia, Cooley is synonymous with tech and venture capital work. The firm is also highly regarded for its clean tech, cyber/data security, privacy, intellectual property (IP), M&A, private equity, and securities practices.

Tech Roots

Cooley was founded by Arthur Cooley and Louis Crowley in 1920 in San Francisco. Six decades later, the firm opened an office in Palo Alto, the epicenter of American technology. The rest is history. The firm began working with venture capitalists, life sciences companies, and emerging technology startups, representing the likes of Adobe Systems and Gilead Sciences. It also took Genentech and Amgen public in 1980 and 1983, respectively. The firm advised on the formation of Draper, Gaither and Anderson, the West Coast’s first venture capital partnership. In summary, the firm built a strong tech foundation and continues to be a leader in this sector today.

Start ’Em Up

Cooley lawyers work in a variety of industries. The firm works in the technology sphere, including in areas such as AI, big data, cloud solutions, cybersecurity, digital currency and blockchain, and fintech. However, the firm’s experience broadly extends to many other industries such as aviation, clean tech, communications and media, education, food and beverage, life sciences, healthcare, national security, and retail.

The No. 1 firm for Emerging Companies & Venture Capital in Vault’s practice area rankings, Cooley is a go-to shop for all aspects of startups and early-stage companies. Advising both investors and companies, the firm handles more than 1,000 venture capital financings each year. The firm’s lawyers work through the entire life cycle of a startup and offer a multidisciplinary approach, integrating experience in financing, IP counseling, licensing, M&A advice, and other areas. Moreover, through the firm’s web resource Cooley GO, startups can receive in-depth information on everything from getting started, raising funds, building a team, creating a board, and selling their businesses.

Cooley also has a bustling corporate practice with a strong M&A team of more than 180 lawyers. The firm has worked on more than 1,500 M&A deals in the past five years. On the private equity side, the firm handles buyouts, going-private transactions, growth equity investments, minority investments, and spinoffs—to name a handful of its matters. Moreover, on the litigation side, the firm has experience in myriad areas, including antitrust, environmental, IP, privacy and cybersecurity, restructuring, securities litigation, and tax law.

Best in Class

Many leading industry organizations say Cooley is a great place. Cooley has repeatedly received recognition from Diversity Lab, Seramount, and the Women in Law Empowerment Forum. The firm goes the extra mile for its people. For associates, the firm offers a shadowing program, internal career coaches, and a liaison for those taking leave. The firm even helps its associates get shut-eye by offering new parents Smart Sleeper rentals. In addition, the firm put a DEI action plan in place in 2020 to increase the percentage of women in the partnership to at least 35% and to increase the percentage of  ethnically and racially diverse and LGBTQ+ lawyers to at least 32% and the percentage of managers and directors from these groups to at least 37%. To back up the firm’s investment in DEI, associates are eligible to receive up to 100 hours of billable credit for shadowing, leadership in the DEI space, and various firm citizenship activities.

• Defended long-time firm client Horizon Therapeutics, a specialty biopharmaceutical company, against a FTC legal challenge to Amgen’s $27.8 billion acquisition.
• Represented Zoom Video Communications on its $864 million initial public offering of 24,000,000 shares of common stock.
• Counseled the Boston Celtics on the $6.1 billion sale of a majority stake to an investor group led by William Chisholm.
• Secured the victory in a landmark federal lawsuit, Sines v. Kessler, in representing nine plaintiffs who were victims of a coordinated attack by white supremacists during the Unite the Right rally.

• Technology Practice Group of the Year, 2024—Law360
• Life Sciences Practice Group of the Year, 2024—Law360
• Finalist, Pharma/Healthcare Corporate Practice of the Year, 2024—The American Lawyer
• Finalist, Tech/Telecom Corporate Practice of the Year, 2024—The American Lawyer
• Finalist, IP Litigation Practice of the Year, 2023—The American Lawyer