Spring Programme

Who we are and what we do

Cooley has over 1,300 lawyers across 19 offices in the US, Asia and Europe, and a total workforce of over 3,000 worldwide

Cooley provides the opportunity to be part of a collaborative and diverse culture, representing the most innovative companies in the world. We handle game-changing deals, groundbreaking IP matters and business-critical litigation across a wide array of dynamic industries, while at the same time counselling startups and entrepreneurs poised to become the business and technology leaders of the future.

A law firm for the future. As advisers to disrupters – particularly in the technology, life sciences and high-growth industries – we see first-hand the power of innovation. We seek to meet the evolving needs of our clients by building a community of professionals of the highest calibre who share our vision and embrace our values.

Diversity, equity and inclusion

Cooley’s commitment to attracting, mentoring and retaining an exceptional team of lawyers from as many backgrounds as possible is embedded in our culture. We are dedicated to maintaining a truly diverse workforce that values and celebrates differences – from the way we relate to and support each other to the way we work together to meet our clients’ needs. As Rachel Proffitt, Cooley’s CEO has said "when we embrace individuals from diverse backgrounds and perspectives, we create a rich tapestry of ideas, experiences, and talents. This diversity sparks innovation, challenges the status quo and propels us forward.”

Cooley is intent on maintaining its standing as one of the world’s greatest law firms, and also on keeping its reputation as a great place to work. We fundamentally believe that the two can, indeed must, go hand in hand. We invest heavily in preserving our culture as we grow.

Spring Programme Opportunity

Cooley only recruits its trainees via its spring and summer programmes, so you’ll need to apply for a place on one of these if you want to pursue your legal career at the Firm. Cooley’s two-week spring programme (vacation scheme) follows our belief in learning by doing and involves a combination of hands-on work on active matters, shadowing other trainees, dynamic skills sessions, talks and social events. With the goal of involving programme participants in client work to the greatest extent possible, individuals may find themselves attending meetings, taking part in conference calls, going to hearings, assisting on deals, helping prepare client alerts and industry blogs, conducting research or participating in project work. Our aim is to plan a programme where you will learn and have the opportunity to demonstrate your potential, while simultaneously gaining as much insight as possible into the firm, our people and the work we do for clients.

What we’re looking for

Clients come to us with issues that span multiple countries because we have a global overview and are global problem-solvers. Cooley lawyers are stimulated by solving these business and legal challenges. The work we do is complex, so our lawyers must relish developing the intellectual and analytical mastery needed to find difficult answers to thorny questions. We’re seeking candidates who share this passion, as well as an appreciation of how to develop effective business and working relationships. In addition, applicants should be able to demonstrate:

• Motivation and initiative
• Communication skills and leadership
• Service orientation and work ethic
• Superior judgement and problem-solving skills
• Commitment, enthusiasm and team spirit.
• Professionalism

You’ll also need to have achieved or be on track to achieve a minimum of a 2.1 degree and have 128 UCAS points (ABB at A-level or equivalent).

Our application process

What’s involved: If you are successful at the initial application stage, you will then take an online appraisal designed to assess your critical thinking skills. Candidates who perform most impressively will be invited to interviews and an assessment process involving a commercial case study, which has been designed to give you the opportunity to showcase your skills in teamwork, commercial sense, communication, logic, judgement, creativity and decision-making. Interviews will be conducted by a variety of lawyers at varying levels of seniority.
Cooley uses the Rare Contextual Recruitment System to ensure we have the best appreciation and understanding of the nature of candidates’ achievements and the circumstances in which they were achieved. We also review applications on a name-blind basis and conduct behavioural interviewer and unconscious bias training for all our lawyers, directors and managers.

Eligibility

You’re eligible to apply for the spring or summer programme if you are a penultimate-year or final-year law undergraduate, final-year non-law undergraduate, or graduate.

If you have a visa to study in the UK, you will need to ensure that our spring/summer programmes fall outside of your term time.