Cooley (UK) LLP 2016/17

Cooley’s slick brochure is packed with detail on what it’s like to train at this innovative, international firm of the future.

Proud to be Cooley

Cooley provides the opportunity to be part of a collaborative and diverse culture, representing the most innovative companies in the world. We handle game-changing deals, groundbreaking IP matters and business-critical litigation across a wide array of dynamic industries, while at the same time counseling startups and entrepreneurs poised to become the business and technology leaders of the future.

“Training with Cooley in London will be about a breadth of experience and opportunity; being challenged to achieve more than you may have thought possible and enhanced by being surrounded by a collaborative and brilliant team.”

Justin Stock London Managing Partner

Cooley has a rich history in the US dating back to 1920, where we are renowned for our work on transformative deals, complex IP and regulatory matters and high-stakes litigation, often where innovation meets the law. In 2015, Cooley established its first European office in London, bringing a profile of legal experience supporting and protecting innovation and technology around the world. Our London office has worked hard to build on the excep- tional success of the firm in the US. Key to the continued success of London and further growth is integration and ensuring everyone understands they have a part to play in building that success.

Career opportunities

We challenge our people with endless opportunities right from the start. We help build careers through formal and informal mentoring programmes that emphasise superlative legal skills, real world problem-solving, and the development of internal and external business relationships. We are looking for entrepreneurial indi- viduals who are committed to serving our clients, energised by innovation and dedicated to shaping Cooley’s future. We want applicants who have thought about their career path and are attracted to being part of a small group of trainees with the added responsibility and hands-on involvement this often brings. Cooley offers the opportunity to work on some of the highest quality matters for some of the most interesting, dynamic and forward-thinking companies in the world. As a global city, a centre of finance and a hub for technology, inno- vation and creativity, London is a natural fit for Cooley’s interna- tional clients and for its strategic global growth. The office provides corporate legal advice to established and high- growth companies and investors in domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, securities transac- tions and private equity and venture capital financings. The transactional team in London also engages in matters involv- ing intellectual property, technology transactions, data protection and privacy, employment, and insolvency. Our London competition team advises companies on all aspects of EU and UK competition law, including merger control, regulatory investigations, distribution and pricing issues, general compliance and competition litigation. About Cooley London

Our UK team also advises insurers, reinsurers, brokers, fund man- agers, pay day and other lenders on a wide range of financial services regulatory and transactional matters. Cooley’s London-based litigators have one of the most sought after complex commercial litigation teams in the UK. They have considerable experience in complex domestic and cross-border litigation, international arbitration and regulatory matters. They have handled litigation in all commercial divisions of the English High Court, Court of Appeal, Supreme Court and Court of Justice of the EU, and represented clients in all major international arbitration proceedings. We have a wealth of experience in major international asset disputes, including advising governments on their anti-corruption agencies in seeking to trace, freeze and recover corruptly acquired assets of dishonest public officials, along with advising major private companies. The group has one of the UK’s most significant insurance and reinsurance practices, covering complex insurance and reinsurance disputes, run-off and insolvency, arbitration and commercial court litigation.

Accolades

Fortune magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” and “100 Best Workplaces for Women”

One of the “50 Best Law Firms for Women” by Working Mother magazine

International Law Firm Innovation at the Legal Week Innovation Awards 2016

“Highly commended” in Legal Expertise: Creating New Collaborations and “com- mended” in Innovation in Technology and Data Analytics by FT Innovative Lawyers Europe

Legal Week’s “London Office of the Year” in 2015

Highly recommended in eight different catego- ries and 17 lawyers are ranked by Chambers UK

Twenty-one practice areas recommended and 25 lawyers ranked by UK Legal 500

Training at Cooley

We believe in learning by doing and trainees will be involved in real work from the start. Cooley trainees are often pleasantly surprised by the level of responsibility they have on the matters assigned to them. Cooley’s two-year training programme will be divided into four seats of six months each. This will likely include at least one busi- ness litigation seat where work could involve general commercial, employment, insurance or IP-related matters. Other seats will be in non-contentious corporate commercial/transactional areas where work could involve M&A, PE, VC, life sciences, finance matters or technology transactions. Seat options may evolve over time and in response to Cooley’s commercial business needs, but we work to ensure trainees obtain experience in the areas of greatest interest to them. Trainees will be supervised by lawyers at varying levels of seniority, as the experiences can be different but equally valuable to a trainee’s development. In addition to organising and supporting trainees through the Professional Skills Course, Cooley has developed a comprehensive trainee training programme, which will be delivered by associates and partners at the firm. The aim is to enable trainees to develop practice-based skills and knowledge in our key areas in addition to professional skills covering areas such as business development and finance. The support network at Cooley is extensive – trainees have an assigned supervisor, a trainee buddy in the year above, a partner mentor, the legal talent team and the trainee principal, all there to help and encourage progress and growth.

Applying to train in London

Cooley has opportunities for trainees to start in late August 2019 and recruits for these positions through its summer programme. Interested applicants should apply to the 2017 programme, which will be open for applications from 20 October 2016 to 31 January 2017. Please submit your application well in advance of the deadline. Shortlisting may commence ahead of this date, but we do not assess applications on a rolling basis. Shortlisted applicants can expect to hear from the firm within two weeks of the application deadline, with all applicants being informed of their final status within a month of the deadline.

Submit applications at https://www.apply4law.com/cooley

“Cooley’s culture is really inclusive. Partners and associates regularly ask for your opinion on the matters they are working on and expect you to want to get involved. It helps that, from day one, you’re encour- aged to ask questions about a case or transaction. This goes a long way towards helping you to understand the ‘bigger picture’ and what is expected of you during the process.”

“On starting at Cooley, I was over- whelmed by how welcoming everyone was, which made it really easy to settle in as a first-seater! I’ve had so many opportunities to learn from driven and experienced people. It is genuinely a team effort at Cooley. A lot of time and energy is put into teaching the trainees and I’ve felt as though my contributions have been valued from the word go.”

Mark Jones Second-year trainee Current seat: Corporate

Harriet Swan Second-year trainee Current seat: Corporate Life Sciences

Assessment and selection process

If you are successful at the initial application stage, you will then undertake an online Critical Thinking Appraisal, designed to assess your critical thinking skills. Candidates who perform most impressively will then be invited to a half-day assessment centre involving a business case study. The case study has been designed to give you the opportunity to showcase a breadth of skills includ- ing team-working, commercial sense, communication skills, logic, judgement, creativity and decision-making. You will also have the opportunity to meet and speak with a variety of Cooley lawyers and trainees over lunch. Those who demonstrate a high-level of ability across our core competency areas will be offered the opportunity to participate in a series of one-to-one interviews with lawyers at varying levels of seniority.

“Cooley makes every effort to ensure that future train- ees feel connected to the firm (and are invited to the many social events!). By day one of my training contract I already felt a part of the Cooley team.”

Natalie Lewis Second-year trainee Current seat: Business Litigation

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 to date 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 is important 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 part of the team from the beginning.

Summer programme

Cooley’s two-week schemes involve a combination of hands-on work on active matters, shadowing other trainees, dynamic skills sessions, talks, trips and social events. With the goal of involving programme participants in client work to the greatest extent possible, students may find themselves attending meetings, taking part in conference calls, going to hearings, assisting on deals, conducting research or taking part in project work. Our aim is to plan a programme from which you will learn and have the opportunity to demonstrate your potential, while simultaneously gaining as much insight as possible into the firm, our people and the work we do.

“Overall, the two-weeks at Cooley were an invaluable experience. The opportunity to wade a little deeper into the legal profession was made easier and much more informative by the inclusive and development-focused nature at Cooley. It was a fantastic learning and working environment!” Alicia Johnson-Cole 2016 summer programme – starts training in August 2018

“Many firms claim that they have an ‘open-door culture’ but I know from experience that this is not always the case. At Cooley, every- body was approachable and, in many cases, actually approached me to ask how I was getting on. I do not think that this would have happened in a bigger office on a larger summer scheme.” Daniel Millard 2015 summer programme – starts training in August 2017

London trainees

Laura Dietschy Second-year Universite de Strasbourg Law

Laura Elliott Second-year Leeds University History

Mark Jones Second-year Liverpool University Law

Natalie Lewis Second-year Durham University French & German

Nihara McCormack Second-year Exeter University International Relations

Harriet Swan Second-year Southampton University Law

Ross Keeble First-year University of Nottingham History

Charlotte Lennon First-year University of Oxford Classical Archaeology and Ancient History

Andrew Love First-year University of Warwick Chemistry with Medicinal Chemistry

Cooley’s culture Cooley is intent on maintaining its standing as one of the world’s greatest law firms, but also on maintaining 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 demon- strate the traits and values we have identified as central to success at Cooley, like 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 generally. In London, staff members are invited to a regular informal lunch with Justin Stock, London managing partner. There have also been numerous planned and impromptu office-wide socials,

including a summer social, a masquerade ball, monthly ‘Cooley Cocktails’, tennis, netball and football matches.

Diversity 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 as one firm to meet the needs of our clients. IP partner Akash Sachdeva and competition associate Trupti Reddy are the London office representatives on Cooley’s diversity com- mittee. They, along with 20 other colleagues from around the firm, meet bi-monthly to formulate and implement initiatives aimed at strengthening a culture of inclusivity across Cooley. London associate Sascha Grimm, who was listed in City AM’s 2016 Power 100 Women, is a founding member and chair of Women in Law London (WILL), a legal networking organization focused on the retention of women in the legal sector. Our annual ‘Pathways to Law’ programme provides legal work expe- rience to academically-able, ‘A’ level stage students from non-privi- leged backgrounds. This year, we piloted a programme to review summer placement application forms on a name-blind basis and invested in behavioural interviewer training for all our lawyers, directors and managers. We are excited about what lies ahead in continuing to attract and retain diverse talent.

Are you Cooley? Cooley lawyers are stimulated by solving business and legal challenges. The work we do is complex, so our lawyers must relish developing the intellectual and analytical mastery needed to accomplish finding difficult answers to thorny questions. We are seeking candidates who share this passion, as well as an appreciation of how to develop effective business and working relationships. In addition, applicants should be able to demonstrate the following:

• motivation and initiative • communication skills and leadership • service orientation and work ethic

• superior judgment and problem solving skills • commitment, enthusiasm and team spirit • professionalism

www.cooley.com/uktrainee

‘Meet Cooley’ events In addition to attending a number of university law fairs, we will be hosting our annual ‘Meet Cooley’ open event on 13 December 2016. This event is aimed at those who are planning on applying for our 2017 summer programme before the 31 January 2017 deadline and who want to learn more about our practice areas and culture. Priority will be given to those who have reached at least their penultimate year of a law degree or the final year of a non-law degree. We will also be running a few smaller ‘Meet and Greet’ events early in 2017. These events are a chance to come into the firm for an office tour and an informal chat with a few of our current trainees. Priority for these events will be given to those who haven’t applied for summer placements/periods of recognised training at Cooley in the current 2016/17 recruitment cycle and maybe at an earlier point in their academic pathway.

These events are a great opportunity to learn more about the firm and to gain a greater understanding into life as a Cooley trainee.

Applications to attend these events can be made via our online system from 20 October 2016. Applications to attend the December event should be made by 28 November 2016. Applications to attend the ‘Meet and Greet’ events in early 2017 will be dealt with on a rolling basis but the last date to submit for one of these will be 27 February 2017.

Academic requirements Cooley’s academic requirements are a minimum 2.1 at degree level (any discipline) and 320 UCAS points or equivalent (not to include points from AS levels or General Studies). We will accept applications from individuals who do not meet these requirements where an indi- vidual has clear and valid mitigating circumstances and has other- wise demonstrated excellence at another point in their academic or professional history.

Trainee salaries & key benefits

• Starting salary £44,000 rising to £48,000 in second year of training • newly qualified salary: £90,000 • 25 days holiday per year • gym membership subsidy • season ticket loan

• private medical insurance • life assurance • pension scheme and firm contribution • childcare vouchers • sports, social and celebratory events • subsidised on-site café

Law school support For those who secure a training place prior to the start of law school, Cooley will pay the fees for the GDL and/or LPC and will also provide a living allowance of £8,000 (per annum) for those residing inside London, or £7,500 (per annum) for those residing elsewhere.

Legal talent contacts

Sarah Warnes Trainee Recruitment & Legal Talent Manager (London)

Cooley (UK) LLP Dashwood

69 Old Broad Street London EC2M 1QS +44 (0) 20 7583 4055

Emily Granger HR & Legal Talent Assistant

uktrainee@cooley.com

@cooleyllp

@cooleycareers

facebook.com/cooleyllp linkedin.com/company/cooleyllp youtube.com/user/cooleyllp

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