Cooley has boosted its London offering with the hire of Ashurst’s co-head of tech M&A, Jonathan Cohen.
Cohen has joined Cooley’s M&A practice after five years at his former firm, where he focused on advising tech-sector businesses and investors on UK and cross-border transactions.
Cohen also advises on fundraisings, joint ventures and restructurings. At Ashurst he led teams that advised Coop Exchange on its pre-seed fundraising round and bp Ventures on its investment in drone developer Flylogix, among other matters.
“Jonathan’s experience, drive and entrepreneurialism are a perfect match for us,” said Claire Keast-Butler, who was appointed co-partner in charge of Cooley’s London office last August after its former managing partner, Justin Stock, left the firm for Akin at the helm of a three-partner transactions team.
“We’re excited about the contribution Jonathan will make to our growth strategy as the go-to firm for disruptive high-growth technology and life sciences companies and investors in the UK and Europe,” Keast-Butler added.
Cohen continues a run of partner hires in Cooley’s London office since the start of last year, among them Norton Rose Fulbright’s former London competition and antitrust head, Mark Simpson, in April 2024. It also added life sciences partnering and licensing specialist Jenny Davies from Gowling and a trio of ECVC partners from Taylor Wessing, White & Case and Goodwin. The firm has around 100 lawyers in London – nearly double the number it had when it opened in the city a decade ago.
Investment in laterals combined with headwinds in the UK market likely contributed to the London office’s revenue dipping 8% in 2024 to $94.5m, despite Cooley’s global turnover growing 5.8% to $2.1bn alongside gains in profit per equity partner and revenue per lawyer.
Commenting on his move, Cohen said Cooley was “the destination transatlantic law firm” for the tech industry.
“The Cooley client base includes the ‘who’s who’ of the most innovative startups through to world-leading tech giants and investors, and the firm’s ambitions in London are exciting,” he added.
An Ashurst spokesperson said the firm wished Cohen well and thanked him for his contribution to the firm.
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