Cooley LLP - True Picture

Firm profile

Cooley lawyers solve legal issues for investors, financial institutions and established companies. Clients partner with Cooley on transformative deals, complex IP and regulatory matters, and high-stakes litigation, often where innovation meets the law. Cooley has nearly 1,400 lawyers across 19 offices in Europe, the United States and Asia, and a total workforce of over 3,000 worldwide.

Main areas of work

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, private companies, capital markets, technology and life sciences transactions, IP, complex high-stakes litigation, product compliance & liability, tax, competition, employment, compensation & benefits, fraud, data protection and privacy. Cooley also serves its communities by representing hundreds of pro bono clients annually.

Trainee opportunities

Cooley’s training experience will revolve around small groups of trainees and really hands-on involvement. We truly believe in learning by doing. Trainees spend four six-month periods in some of the firm’s corporate/transactional and litigation areas. Trainees give preferences for seats and there may also be opportunities for client secondments from time to time. The focus is on your development as a truly commercial business lawyer. Supplementing your hands-on learning will be a programme designed to increase your knowledge and skill for the work Cooley does. Practice group programmes and firm-wide opportunities will enhance this. Working alongside and learning from some of the best lawyers in their fields will give you a fantastic start to your professional life. A multilevel support network of partners, mentors and a buddy system ensures you have a targeted level of guidance.

Vacation scheme

The Spring and Summer Programmes are the only route into being considered for a training place. Apply online by 1st January 2026. Each programme is two-weeks long and will have 14 participants in total.

Other benefits

Life assurance, pension (firm contribution), season ticket loan, private medical insurance, 25 days annual leave, employee assistance and mental health and wellbeing support services, critical illness cover, fertility treatment, wellness program, virtual GP services, cycle to work scheme, gym membership/fitness reimbursement, on-site café, mortgage surgeries, back-up child/adult care, discount, cashback and concierge services, other sports and social activities.

Open days and first-year opportunities

Cooley runs three ’Meet Cooley’ insight events in Autumn 2025, so there are plenty of opportunities to get to know the firm. The dates are 20 November (in-person) and 27 November (virtual) and 4 December (in-person).

We have a further opportunity for first year law students and second year non-law students to attend a Meet Cooley event in May 2026.

Application deadlines are specific to each event and can be found on the website: www.cooley.com/uktrainee.

University law careers fairs 2025

National events including Aspiring Solicitors Virtual Diversity Law Fairs, LawCareers Live (London event), Legal Cheek Commercial Awareness Academy, Legal Cheek Virtual Law Fair. In addition to Birmingham, Durham, Edinburgh, King’s College (London), Manchester, Nottingham, Oxford, UCL, and Warwick

Diversity, Inclusion and Wellbeing at Cooley
Cooley’s commitment to attracting, mentoring and retaining an exceptional team of lawyers from as many backgrounds as possible is embedded in our culture. 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 have several affinity groups at Cooley with active membership in our London office, including the Cooley Inclusion Alliance, Women’s Initiative, and LGBTQ+, Black Attorney and Black Business Professionals, Asian Pacific Islander Attorney, Latinx, Middle Eastern and North African, and Caregivers Attorney affinity groups. Cooley aims to create an environment that reflects a wide range of perspectives and experiences. Our affinity groups are open and inclusive communities that originated as fora and resources for support and awareness within the firm. Our affinity groups work to enhance recruitment, retention, training and promotion initiatives, sponsor professional and business development programs, and identify client and community partnership opportunities. Additionally, London lawyers sit on Cooley’s firmwide diversity committee, which meets bimonthly to strategise ways to maintain and strengthen a culture of inclusivity across the firm. We’re proud of our annual commitment to Pathways to Law, which provides legal work experience to academically able, A-level students from historically underrepresented backgrounds. In addition, our spring and summer programme and Diversity Fellowship applications are reviewed using anonymised CVs, and we conduct behavioural interviewing and unconscious bias training for all our lawyers, directors and managers. We also implement the Rare Contextual Recruitment System as part of our application system to ensure we have the best appreciation and understanding of the nature of candidates’ achievements and the manner in which they were achieved.

We’re excited about what lies ahead in continuing to attract, develop and retain diverse talent at Cooley. Learn more about the firm’s diversity, equity and inclusion programme and initiatives: www.cooley.com/diversity.