Hiring 19 partners from just two firms – including West Coast US rival Morrison & Foerster (MoFo) – has certainly guaranteed Cooley an eye-catching entrance into London's already crowded legal market.

After months of speculation surrounding Cooley's plans for the UK, it announced its debut in London on Monday (12 January) with a total lawyer count of 55. The statement came just over 48 hours after Edwards Wildman Palmer formally merged with Locke Lord to become Locke Lord Edwards. Cooley took 14 of legacy Edwards Wildman's London partners, leaving the merged firm with just two of its partners in the City.

"Being global and getting into London has been an important strategic objective for the firm for a long time," says Cooley's chief executive, Joe Conroy. "Opening in London is one of the most, if not the most, significant things the firm has done in the last decade."

Conroy explains that the firm chose this route to opening in the UK because it was the "right deal" and because Cooley's strong financial position made finding a compatible merger partner in London with a similar level of profitability problematic. In 2013 the firm reported profits per equity partner of $1.6m (£1m), according to The American Lawyer, against revenue of $674m (£444m).

In 2012 Cooley did explore a merger with its former non-exclusive alliance partner, Olswang; however, the discussions are understood to have only ever been exploratory.

The new office, described by Conroy as a derivative of the firm's offering in the States, will focus on technology, intellectual property, insurance and litigation as well as M&A. The firm hopes to transfer much of its impressive US client base to London, including names such as Google, Facebook and LinkedIn, as well as maintaining the practices of its newly acquired partners, who count AXA Group Companies and the Guardian Media Group among their key clients.

"From a standing start it is definitely a sign of significant ambition," comments Olswang head of litigation Richard Bamforth. "I think it remains to be seen whether or not they can pull it off. They are buying existing practices but also 55 lawyers have to become part of a new organisation, and that's where they will need to work."

Among the better-known names within the new City office are MoFo's former London corporate head, Justin Stock, who will head the office, and former Edwards Wildman partners Becket McGrath, who co-chaired his old firm's anti-trust group, and Laurence Harris, who served as deputy managing partner from 2012.

Cooley says it is open to hiring more partners in London if they are able to generate their own business.

As far as its global aspirations are concerned, the firm still has a long way to go to convince the market that its two offices outside the US – it opened
in Shanghai in 2012 – make it a global firm, a term it is already deploying.

"If we look at our client bases there is clearly a Europe client base, so the question is how much we need to have a broader presence," says Conroy of the firm's European ambitions.

"Over time it would surprise me if we did not have another presence or two, but we are not the type of firm to have offices in every country."

One UK firm that will be watching Cooley's progress closely will be Fieldfisher.
"From a technology perspective MoFo has got a great reputation, and Cooley has done well taking a technology team from them," notes Fieldfisher head of technology Robert Shooter.

"The size of our technology group means that we look at it with interest. The more the merrier. We do not underestimate the competition at all but we do not feel threatened by it."

Indeed, the office launch could be interpreted as a reflection of the growing importance of the UK and European technology sector.

If Cooley continues to grab the headlines for the right reasons, however, such generous sentiments may begin to wane within the UK's specialist technology law firms.