Cooley

Three cheers for Cooley: this US import has just blown its candles on ten years of working alongside startups and the greatest in tech in the City.

Cooley training contract review 2026

About the firm

How might you celebrate a tenth birthday party? While we can’t imagine there were bouncy castles and piñatas at Cooley’s recent celebration, no doubt there was an event to mark the firm’s London office entering double digits. “We’re a firm over 100 years old in the US,” training principal Claire Temple makes clear of the firm’s stature, “but here we’re ten years old, and with that comes the depth of quality of being an older firm, but also having that innovative spirit and heart.” Wise beyond its years, shall we say.

Innovation is certainly at the heart of Cooley’s spirit. It’s a firm that prides itself on its work in the tech, life sciences and startup spheres. And rightfully so: our colleagues over on Chambers UK recognise this lot as nationwide experts on transactional life sciences, as well as private equity venture capital investment and product liability. The firm’s corporate/M&A, tax, data protection and information law, employee share schemes and incentives and public international law teams also receive their colours.

“… the opportunity to work with the big names as well as brand-new startups.”

Those with their hearts set on a training contract at a US law firm know the drill: small cohorts, high responsibility on lean teams, and usually some specific kind of work. While Cooley ticked all the above boxes for our interviewees, they also revealed they found more: “The firm has a fantastic reputation for treating people well, including the benefits you receive, the collaborative nature of the teams, and its reputation in the market as being on the right side of how the corporate environment should work,” one trainee detailed.

The work on offer was the cherry on top for sources who revelled at “the opportunity to work with the big names as well as brand-new startups.” As Temple emphasises, “We’re a firm that works with both big tech and VC-backed companies, which is not something you’ll find at many law firms to the degree, quality and calibre you’ll find here.”

Training Contract Structure

With a smaller cohort of only six trainees a year, the seat allocation process at Cooley is trainee-led where possible in that trainees indicate where their interests lie, and the firm aims to accommodate those preferences. At the time of our interviews, the firm’s newest recruits explained the process is as follows: “you have conversations with people at the firm to figure out what’s right for you.”

Thereafter, trainees email graduate recruitment to express their interest in a particular seat. While incoming trainees do receive a seat list prior to joining the firm, for those who have already joined, “there’s never really a list of available seats sent around, so you never quite know what will open up,” a source explained of the process. Opportunities to take part in client secondments can also crop up as and when there is client need.

Seat Experiences

Trainee Life

Oversight and support are a bit of a running theme at the firm: upon joining, newbies take part in ‘Cooley Uni’, where associates, partners and professional support lawyers run training sessions on the main corporate and litigation topics trainees are likely to encounter in their seats, the type of work they may be doing, and how the departments are structured. “I have to say, training is one of the most impressive things I’ve found about the firm,” one source praised, “lots of people here are really passionate about teaching! It's a combination of formal teaching and regular feedback.”

As such, supervision also got similarly positive reviews from interviewees: “They give really great feedback, and take the time to take you through things.” Additionally, sources highlighted the fact that the layout of the office aided supervision: “It’s open plan, but we have pods,” said one, “in a pod, there are typically three desks and you’re sat with your supervisor, so if I have a question, they’re always nearby.”

“… training is one of the most impressive things I’ve found about the firm. Lots of people here are really passionate about teaching!”

As such, to benefit from proximity, trainees are expected to be in the office three days a week. There’s also the added benefit of the “absolutely spectacular amenities and incredible views” of Bishopsgate. In addition to subsidised lunches and free barista coffee at the firm’s café, Arthurs, when in-person, trainees can make use of the building’s gym and events like sunrise yoga and puppy therapy. Opportunities to socialise are also rife, thanks to the office’s social space: “There’s lots of casual day-to-day socialising – you bump into people and have coffee, and everyone is very approachable.”

On a more formal level, the firm hosts a monthly ‘Cooley Cooldown’ where all lawyers can meet for a chat over drinks. The firm also hosts a netball team and a book club, as well as an annual Christmas quiz: “There’s this tradition where all of the first-year trainees create a Christmas quiz – everyone in the firm takes it so seriously and it can get very competitive! Last year, we had the partners decorating gingerbread men as part of it.”

As for the hours trainees find themselves spending in the office (or logged on to their laptops on WFH days), naturally, responses were quite varied. One source explained that hours are typically from 9am until between 6.30pm and 8pm “– and then there’s the midnight finishes. There’s not much in the middle range of that, but the hours aren’t bad for a US firm at all,” they reasoned. “I generally haven’t done a lot of weekend work, and the late finishes aren’t consistent,” another added. As is often the case, those in litigation found it was easier to plan ahead thanks to the cyclical nature of the work, while “on the corporate side, it can be more difficult due to client demand.”

“It has the US Silicon Valley vibe you’d expect.”

While pressure may stem from client expectations, trainees were adamant that the firm culture didn’t contribute to this – attributing the positive vibes in part to the firm’s buttoned-down Californian roots. “It has the US Silicon Valley vibe you’d expect,” said one trainee, “for example, you don’t have to be super dressed up for work – you can dress for how your day is going to go.” Given the firm regularly rubs shoulders with venture capitalists and start-ups, it’ll come as no surprise that the culture was described by trainees as “entrepreneurial.” In practice, this means the firm doesn’t expect trainees to stay quiet. “If you have an idea, you’re really encouraged to voice it,” we heard.

While the lawyers at the firm may not take themselves too seriously, they certainly take their pro bono work seriously (as well as their client billable work!). “Pretty much everyone is involved,” one trainee observed, “people are really encouraged to do it, and there are new schemes popping up all the time.” Trainees are able to get involved through attending legal advice clinics, working on pro bono matters within their departments, or working with charities. “We have Alex Radcliffe,” professional support lawyer and managing pro bono lawyer, “who is just fantastic and is massively integral to what everyone does,” explained a source. Another shared that “if you have any external pro bono ideas you can go to them, tell them you like an idea, and they can make that happen.”

For their toils, our sources felt they received appropriate compensation. Interviewees noted that “what’s really nice is if you’re working late, they’ll pay for your taxi home and expense your dinner for the evening.” As for their salaries, trainees noted “these are slightly lower than at some other US firms in the City, but with the life I’m able to lead alongside it, I have no complaints at all.”

Qualification

We similarly heard no qualms about qualification. Trainees described it as a straightforward process given the small size of the cohort. A job list of open NQ positions is circulated, though trainees can casually express their interest early on, and interviews are held if any positions are particularly competitive. By the end of April, trainees know where they’ve landed. In 2025, Cooley retained 3 of 4 qualifiers.