Silicon Valley law firm to
open office here
Cooley hiring local attorneys with connections to
tech entrepreneurs and transactions.
In what could reshape tech industry dealmaking here, law firm
Cooley plans to open a Chicago office, providing a local portal for its deep
Silicon Valley connections.
Bloomberg Law reported that Cooley is hiring partners from
Winston & Strawn, DLA Piper and elsewhere to stock an outpost that a
consultant tells Crain’s might grow to 25 to 50 lawyers within five
years.
Among the hires, according to Bloomberg Law, are two lawyers
representing businesses associated with tech entrepreneurs Eric Lefkofsky and
Brad Keywell.
Another lawyer, confirming the Bloomberg Law report, says Cooley
plans to locate at 444 W. Lake St., home to law firms McDermott Will &
Emery and DLA.
A Cooley spokesman did not reply immediately to an email seeking
comment.
"One of the biggest issues for many Chicago startups is that when they reach the growth stage they haven’t been able to make the jump to the next level of major venture investors," said local tech entrepreneur Howard Tullman. "Having Cooley’s West Coast connections to major players will be huge. Cameo is a perfect example of a firm that would never have gone as far as it has as fast as it has without being very 'present' on the West Coast."
Cooley’s website says the firm was ranked No. 1 in the
third quarter for venture capital financings and for initial public offerings
of tech and life science firms. Based in Palo Alto, Calif., it says it
represents a third of “unicorn” IPOs—those with a market cap of $1 billion or
more.
“I think it’s evidence that we’re a growing, vibrant
marketplace for emerging companies,” Neal Gerber & Eisenberg partner
Michael Gray, who practices in the sector, says of the news. "It's here to
stay and it's not going anywhere."
With more than 1,000 lawyers, Cooley ranked 23rd by 2019
revenue on American Lawyer's list of largest law firms. Bloomberg, citing
AmLaw, said Cooley's revenue has more than tripled since 2010, growing 17
percent last year, to $1.55 billion, while profits per equity partner rose by
more than 25 percent, to $3.18 million.
Legal industry consultants say Cooley has promised lawyers
it’s wooing that it will go big in Chicago, though firms often fall short of
initial boasts.
Bloomberg Law said Cooley’s recruits include Winston’s
Richard Ginsberg, who leads the firm’s technology and emerging companies
practice, and DLA Piper’s Greg Grossman, who focuses on mergers and
acquisitions, private equity and venture capital. Neither Ginsberg nor Grossman
replied immediately to request for comment.
Ginsberg counts as clients Groupon founder Lefkofsky and S2G
Ventures, a Walton family-backed food industry investor, while Grossman
represents Keywell’s Uptake Technologies, Pritzker Group Venture Capital and
Lightbank.