Cooley may have capitalised on the fallout from the merger of Edwards Wildman Palmer and Locke Lord when it launched in London earlier this year, but the opening was far from opportunistic.

This January, the US firm ended years of speculation when it opened a City base with the hire of 20 partners, including 14 from Edwards Wildman and a further five from Morrison & Foerster (MoFo). 

And the recruitment has not stopped there, with the firm subsequently bringing in two life sciences partners from Reed Smith in March, three patent attorneys from Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo in August, as well as two partners from Olswang and one from WilmerHale.

Cooley's New York-based chief executive Joe Conroy is clear that the move into London was anything but a snap decision, and has been on the firm's agenda since 2008. "Coming here was something that we didn't rush into – we had a protracted and thoughtful conversation over a number of years within the partnership about why it made sense," he says.

It forms part of a long-term strategy to transform Cooley from a US West Coast technology focused firm to a member of the global legal elite. Conroy says: "'Elite' for us means elite brand first and foremost, elite financials and doing great work for the best clients in the world."

If you have grown up in a traditional British lockstep firm and you are 50, you are probably not going to move to a firm like this

So how does he plan on achieving that kind of status when so many firms in both the US and UK are so much bigger than Cooley?

One aspect is further hires in London. Conroy predicts the firm's London lawyer headcount will rise to triple digits, up from the current figure of  around 70. He says: "We are recruiting some very well-heeled, high-profile lawyers."

But he concedes: "It is not for everybody, and if you have grown up in a traditional British lockstep firm and you are 50, you are probably not going to move to a firm like this."

However, for certain lawyers he argues that the Cooley platform is proving to be attractive. "If we were just selling the same brand of fruit that other firms] were selling, that wouldn't be that smart, but I think we have something unique to sell here. I don't think there are a lot of firms here doing what we do very well," he says.

We have a system which eschews the traditional lockstep system – a lot of young people make money

Part of that attractiveness comes down to money. Cooley is positioning itself as an elite firm and in the war for talent in the City, it is paying elite wages. In 2014 the firm reported revenue of $802m (£524m) and a profit per equity partner figure of $1.73m (£1.13m). The firm operates a single-tier partnership, so its London partners will need to pull their weight financially to fit with the firm's model.

Conroy is frank about the financial allure: "We have come here and we want to pay top rate compensation. We have a system which eschews the traditional lockstep system – a lot of young people make money."

The same is true for the firm's associates: "We also have a bonus system in our associate pool which is variable – we have room to pay our super star associates more than they can get paid elsewhere."

Building the firm's brand in its chosen markets will be another key component of attaining elite status. Conroy says the firm's splash into the London market was very much intentional. "There was no doubt there was immediate brand accretion for us – we came in, put a flag in the earth and said 'we are going to do this, we are going to do it the right way and we are going to take a big bet on it rather than just put a toe in the water'."

Conroy is in no doubt of the importance of London to his and Cooley's wider ambitions. "We have to get this right – there is no not getting this right," Conroy says.

So far Cooley's drive to become an elite global firm has taken it from its West Coast base to Washington DC (2005), New York (2006), Boston (2007), Seattle (2008), Shanghai (2011) and now London – and the firm is not planning to stop there, Conroy says: "It is fairly inconceivable to me that London is it for us."

He singles out China and Germany as targets for growth. When asked if the firm is talking to merger targets or groups of potential laterals, Conroy says: "Yes, in London and outside London. There is not a day in the last five years or the next five years that you could ask that question and not get the same answer."

However, he acknowledges that at a certain point size becomes an impediment to maintaining the culture of a firm.

The firm has clearly taken a big bet on London, accelerating from zero to 70-plus lawyers in nine months. It is too early to say whether this will prove to be key stepping stone to the elite status Cooley craves, but with Conroy leading the way, you can be sure there will be more bold leaps along the way.