Ron Hopkinson joins in New York from Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, where he was head of the firm’s private equity group. Eric Schwartzman joins in Palo Alto from Weil, Gotshal & Manges’ Silicon Valley office. Mr Hopkinson and Mr Schwartzman, former partners of Latham & Watkins, worked together in New York representing a variety of private equity sponsors. In London, Stephen Rosen joins the firm from Olswang, where he was head of the private equity and venture capital group.

‘Inroads’ into private equity  

‘This is a defining moment for Cooley,’ said Mike Lincoln, chair of Cooley’s business department. ‘In connection with our recent record-setting years in M&A, capital markets and private investment fund formation, we continue to make steady inroads in private equity. The arrival of Ron, Eric and Stephen will bolster Cooley’s offering across the US and UK. Private equity is now entrenched in the tech space, where Cooley’s platform – for both serial acquirers and company representation – is unrivalled.’

Cooley has 900 lawyers across 12 offices in the US, China and Europe. The firm is primary fund counsel to over 300 private investment fund organisations and has more than 5,000 private company clients in the tech and life sciences sectors.