Cooley has made the first partner promotions in its London office, with three City lawyers making the grade.

The new London partners are corporate lawyer Aaron Archer, and disputes and litigation pair Sascha Grimm (pictured) and Henry Stewart.

Grimm founded women's legal network Women In Law London, which aims to tackle the poor retention rate of women in law.

The City promotions are part of a 19-strong round at the US firm, with the remainder within the firm's bases spanning New York, Palo Alto, Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington DC.

The group comprises 11 men and eight women, pushing the percentage of women made up from 34% last year to 42% this year.

Cooley London managing partner Justin Stock said: "Aaron, Sascha and Henry are all first class lawyers and I am delighted that they have been elected to the partnership. Today marks a very special moment for Cooley as they are the first associates to become partners in London since we established the office here in 2015. They have all had substantial roles in the growth of the firm in London and I look forward to their ongoing contribution to the development of the business."

Cooley chief executive officer Joe Conroy said: "This immensely skilled group comprises lawyers from a variety of backgrounds and experiences. Their commitment, talent and perspectives reflect the best of Cooley culture, and I know each will make significant contributions to the future success of our clients and our firm."

The appointments will be effective from 1 January 2019.

Cooley 2018 promotions in full:

  • Aaron Archer – emerging companies and venture capital (London)
  • Luke Bagley – private investment funds (Boston)
  • Cynthia Bai – debt transactions and venture debt finance and fund finance (Palo Alto)
  • Aaron Binstock – M&A and corporate (Washington DC)
  • Fraser Brown – life sciences (Washington DC)
  • Josh DuClos – M&A transactions, PE and corporate (Los Angeles)
  • Joshua Friedman – corporate transactions (Boston)
  • Stephanie Gentile – tax (New York)
  • Sascha Grimm – civil litigation, regulatory investigations, reputation and brand protection matters (London)
  • Matt Hallinan – venture capital financings, M&A, public offerings and corporate governance matters (Los Angeles)
  • Kate Hillier – life sciences (Palo Alto)
  • Sarah Lightdale – securities litigation and corporate governance (New York)
  • Bethany Lobo – class action defense, business litigation trials and privacy counselling (San Francisco)
  • Amanda Main – disputes (Palo Alto)
  • Richard Segal – financial services (Boston)
  • Josh Seidenfeld – technology and M&A (Palo Alto)
  • David Silverman – M&A and corporate (New York)
  • Henry Stewart – dispute resolution (London)
  • Kristin VanderPas – capital markets transactions (San Francisco)