A Silicon Valley law firm that specializes in venture capital financing and IPOs for startups has opened a Chicago office.
Cooley, founded in 1920 in San Francisco, is launching in the Windy City with 10 partners, some of which it has plucked from local law firms. Lawyers are joining Cooley’s office from firms like DLA Piper, Latham & Watkins and Winston & Strawn, and Cooley said it intends to hire more lawyers soon.
The Chicago office is Cooley’s 17th global outpost. The firm said it chose Chicago because the city and the Midwest in general have growing startup and venture capital industries. The office will be located at 444 W. Lake St., where law firms like McDermott Will & Emery and DLA also have offices.
Cooley’s 1,200 lawyers help startup clients with everything from raising venture capital when they're growing startups to identifying exit strategies, such as mergers, acquisitions and IPOs.
“As the financial and innovation hub of the Midwest and home to many of our game-changing clients, including high-growth, disruptive companies, venture capitalists fueling the market and established Fortune 500 companies, we look forward to opening an office in a city and region where we have loved to work for decades,” said Cooley chairman and CEO Joe Conroy in a statement.
Yvan-Claude Pierre, a corporate and capital markets partner, and Mike Lincoln, Cooley’s vice chair, led the firm's expansion to Chicago and the office will be run by Rick Ginsberg.
The office’s other founding partners include Laurie Bauer and Greg Grossman, who focus on emerging companies and venture capital; Christina Roupas and Courtney Tygesson, who specialize in capital markets and public companies; mergers and acquisitions partner Erin Kirchner; fund formation partner Zach Robert; and employment partner Ryan Vann.
Cooley said it has more than 6,000 startup and corporate clients, including more than 35% of the country’s “unicorn” companies, a term describing startups worth $1 billion or more. Recently the firm has established itself as a leader is SPAC and deSPAC transactions.
Sister publication Silicon Valley Business Journal ranked Cooley as the No. 2 law firm in the Greater Bay Area.
Editor's Note: An earlier version of this story said Yvan-Claude Pierre and Mike Lincoln would lead the Chicago office. They only led the initial expansion. Rick Ginsberg will oversee the Chicago office going forward.
