Startup Firm/Emerging Company Law Firm of the Year: Cooley
"We love to understand our clients' businesses and 'own' their problems and challenges as if they were ours, and we try hard to reflect our clients in terms of how we interact with them and among each other," said Matthew Bartus and Peter Werner, of Cooley's global emerging companies and venture capital practice.
November 05, 2019 at 07:30 AM
2 minute read
Back row, standing, left to right: Calise Cheng (partner), Craig Jacoby (partner)
Front row, seated, left to right: Peter Werner (partner), Rachel Proffitt (partner). Photo: Jason Doiy/ALM
Cooley partners David Peinsipp, Siana Lowrey and Drew Williamson in San Francisco advised longtime client Uber Technologies Inc. on its highly anticipated $8.1 billion initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange. Partner Peter Werner in San Francisco advised online real estate marketplace Opendoor on its recent $300 million Series E2 financing. And partner Jon Avina in Palo Alto advised Zoom Video Communications on its $864 million IPO.
That slate of deals landed Cooley the award for Startup Firm/Emerging Company Law Firm of the Year as part of the California Leaders in Tech Law and Innovation Awards. The Recorder recently caught up with Matthew Bartus and Peter Werner of Cooley's global emerging companies and venture capital practice, to talk about the firm's entrepreneurial spirit.
The Recorder: What are the distinguishing characteristics of lawyers at Cooley who work with start-ups and emerging company clients?
Matthew Bartus and Peter Werner: We love to understand our clients' businesses and "own" their problems and challenges as if they were ours, and we try hard to reflect our clients in terms of how we interact with them and among each other. We know that they're focused on efficiently driving outcomes that advance the business, and that goal is our goal.
When a startup client comes to Cooley for representation, what can they expect?
Energetic, driven people with a spirit of entrepreneurialism and collaboration that we bring to our work with our clients. Many clients that come to us from other shops are pleasantly surprised by the long view we take on developing and nurturing relationships with all of the people involved, which then allows us to be more valuable for our clients at the most critical moments.
What are the biggest challenges your team faces in representing emerging company clients in the current deal climate?
Nurturing client relationships and building cultural fabric internally in an "always on" environment where the default pace is "warp speed" is always a challenge because we need to maintain the levels of quality and thoughtfulness in our approach that we have historically brought to legal challenges.
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