Cooley (UK) LLP |

Cooley lawyers solve legal issues for entrepreneurs, investors, financial institutions and established companies, with a significant emphasis on technology, life sciences and other high-growth industries. Clients partner with Cooley on transformative deals, complex IP and regulatory matters and high-stakes litigation, often where innovation meets the law. The firm has 1,300 lawyers across 17 offices in the US, Asia and Europe. Cooley took home The Lawyer’s International Firm of the Year award in 2018 and won in various categories at the Transatlantic Legal Awards in 2018 and 2019.

Cooley goes to great lengths to maintain a culture of teamwork, collaboration, respect and excellence. Many leading industry organisations say Cooley is a special place, including repeat recognition from Diversity Lab, Working Mother, the Women in Law Empowerment Forum and more. The firm strives to maintain a diverse, equitable and inclusive environment and to create opportunities for professional growth. Cooley considers its commitment to the communities in which it operates to be one of its highest priorities and each year performs thousands of hours of pro bono legal services and other forms of community service.

Cooley’s London office has been named London Office of the Year at the British Legal Awards twice since opening in 2015. It has built out robust practices, including corporate/M&A; finance; venture capital and private equity; capital markets; technology transactions; insurance; litigation; IP; product compliance and liability; white collar crime; tax; employment; competition; and privacy and data protection, among others.

Cooley has a very small intake of 5 trainees a year, so recruit exclusively through the summer programme. Our method of application is to complete an online application form. https://www.apply4law.com/cooley/. If you are successful at the initial application stage, you will then take an online appraisal designed to assess your critical thinking skills. Candidates who perform most impressively will be invited to a half-day assessment involving a business case study, which has been designed to give you the opportunity to showcase your skills in teamworking, commercial sense, communication skills, logic, judgement, creativity and decision-making.

Those who demonstrate a high level of ability across our core competency areas will be offered the opportunity to participate in a series of individual interviews with lawyers at varying levels of seniority.

Interviews will consist of a mix of competency and scenario-based questions. In addition, there will likely be a discussion about topics designed to assess your awareness of issues affecting the work of commercial lawyers and their clients. You should be prepared to talk about your interest in Cooley, the work our firm does and the clients with whom we work. The interviews are an opportunity for us to get to know you a little better and to determine how your experiences have prepared you to work in a law firm environment, as well as an opportunity for you to assess whether Cooley is a match for your aspirations, so you should ask questions about what matters to you.

If you receive and accept an offer to join Cooley, you will hear from the firm regularly throughout the period before formally joining us. It is important to us that you feel like a member of the team from the beginning.

Cooley is a firm that has the concepts of diversity, inclusion, equality and justice woven tightly into the center of our identity, our culture, our brand and our core business. We are dedicated to maintaining a truly diverse workplace that values and celebrates differences – from the way we relate to and support each other to the way we work together to meet our clients’ needs.

We must not just build a substantially more diverse and inclusive enterprise, but also articulate and deliver on our commitment as an institution to oppose racial injustice and address its deleterious effects on our people and our firm.

Cooley strives to achieve the following goals by January 1, 2026:

Women in Partnership
• 2020 baseline 25%
• Firmwide 28%
• 2026 goal 35%

Increase the percentage of women in the partnership to at least 35%.

Diversity among lawyers
• 2020 baseline 26%
• Firmwide 33%
• 2026 goal 32%

Increase the percentage of ethnic, racial and LGBTQ+ diversity among all lawyers to at least 32%.

Diversity among managers + directors
• 2020 baseline 29%
• Firmwide 32%
• 2026 goal 37%

Increase the percentage of ethnic, racial and LGBTQ+ diversity among all managers and directors to at least 37%.

Cooley also has several affinity groups which are open to all Cooley lawyers and were formed to be a forum and resource for support and awareness within the firm. The groups work to enhance recruiting, retention, training and promotion initiatives; sponsor professional and business development programs; and identify client and community partnering opportunities. Cooley's affinity groups include:

• Alternative Work Schedule Attorney Affinity Group
• Asian Pacific Islander Attorney Affinity Group
• Black Attorney Affinity Group
• Black Professional Staff Affinity Group
• Caregivers Attorney Affinity Group
• Cooley Inclusion Alliance
• Latinx Affinity Group
• LGBTQ+ Affinity Group
• Veterans at Cooley Affinity Group
• Women's Initiative

Cooley is intent on maintaining its standing as one of the world’s greatest law firms, but also on keeping its reputation as a great place to work. We fundamentally believe that the two can, indeed must, go hand in hand. We know that simple things matter – like being thanked and appreciated for your hard work.

We invest heavily in preserving our culture as we grow. This is reflected in our dedication to hiring the candidates who demonstrate the traits and values we have identified as central to success at Cooley, such as creativity, entrepreneurial, savvy, and commitment to collaboration.

It is also reflected in how we create the space and time for people to come together to talk, share, celebrate or interact. In London, staff members are invited to regular catchups with Justin Stock, London managing partner. There have also been numerous planned and impromptu officewide socials, including summer and winter events, a festive quiz, and monthly relax and unwind time, in addition to tennis, netball and football matches.