Cooley LLP

Cooley LLP ("Cooley") is a law firm that represents entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and emerging growth companies in major technology fields. The 650-attorney firm is headquartered in Silicon Valley's Palo Alto with offices in other major technology hubs around the country.

Cooley LLP
Headquarters	Palo Alto, California
No. of offices	9
No. of attorneys	650+
Major practice areas	General practice
Revenue	US$ 507 million (2009)[1]
Date founded	1920 ([San Francisco])
Company type	LLP
Website
www.cooley.com

History

In 1920, Arthur Cooley and Louis Crowley started a law partnership in the Humboldt Bank building in San Francisco. For many years, the firm was known as Cooley, Crowley, Gaither, Godward, Castro & Huddleson. In 1972, the firm became Cooley, Godward, Castro, Huddleson & Tatum; in 1996, Cooley Godward. On October 1, 2006, Cooley Godward LLP merged with New York law firm Kronish Lieb Weiner & Hellman LLP, a 110-lawyer litigation boutique focused on bankruptcy, tax, and complex commercial litigation to create the new Cooley Godward Kronish LLP.^{[citation needed]}

In 1959, the firm formed Draper, Gaither and Anderson, the first institutional venture capital limited partnership in the nation. Also in the 1950s, Cooley formed Raychem and National Semiconductor, one of the original chip companies that gave "Silicon Valley" its name. In the 1980s, Cooley took both Genentech and Amgen public.

Cooley represented over 230 companies in public offerings during the 1990s, raising more than $25 billion.^{[citation needed]}

Like most Silicon Valley-based law firms, Cooley was hit hard by the bursting of the Internet bubble and had to institute multiple reductions across its workforce. The firm was for a time hindered in size and reputation by the lay-offs, but in 2005 the firm was named to The American Lawyer's 2005 “A List,” the publication’s annual ranking of “the best of the best” among the nation's top law firms.^{[citation needed]}

Cooley is an early participant in Legal OnRamp, the Wiki/Facebook of Law developed by Cisco and other leading companies and law firms.

The firm welcomed a group of 15 partners from the disbanding San Francisco law firm Heller Ehrman in 2008, including many lawyers in the Venture Law Group (VLG) practice of Heller involved in representation of venture capitalists and emerging companies.

Current business focus

Today Cooley handles venture capital, public securities, mergers & acquisitions and licensing work. They also focus on intellectual property and complex litigation. The firm represents emerging companies, ranking #2 nationally in company-side IPOs from 2000 through 2005 (IPO Vital Signs)^{[citation needed]}. Cooley's clients include:

• Adobe Systems
• Agilent Technologies
• Applied Materials
• Cisco Systems
• eBay
• Gateway, Inc.
• McAfee
• Nvidia
• Qualcomm
• Quest Software
• Siebel Systems (acquired by Oracle Corporation)
• TiVo

In addition, Cooley also has a large life science practice, with more life science VC deals since 2002 (Venture Capital Analyst) and life science IPOs since 2002 (IPO Vital Signs) than any other law firm^{[citation needed]}. The firm has represented nearly 30 percent of the companies on the NASDAQ Biotechnology and BioCentury 100 Indices and more than half of the companies on the AMEX Biotech Index^{[citation needed]}.

Cooley is often ranked among the top law firms for attorney satisfaction and pro bono work.^{[citation needed]} In 2007, the firm was ranked #5 on the Vault's Best 20 Firms to Work For list.

Offices

• Boston, MA
• Broomfield, CO
• Palo Alto, CA
• New York, NY
• San Diego, CA
• San Francisco, CA
• Seattle, WA
• Reston, VA
• Washington, D.C.

Notable lawyers & alumni

• Roger J. Traynor, former chief justice of the Supreme Court of California

References

1. ^ http://www.law.com/jsp/tal/PubArticleTAL.jsp?id=1202430111960 AM Law 100 Gross Revenue

External links

• Official site
• LawPeriscope Profile