Cooley feasted off a record deal markets in 2021 to post an impressive 28% increase in revenue to $1.9bn with profit per equity partner also climbing 28% to hit $4m. 

The Palo Alto-headquartered firm says it advised a record number of US public company clients in 2021, closing more than 385 fundings to raise $46bn in capital, and advising on more than 1,400 financings with an aggregate value of more than $93bn.

The firm also benefitted from the boom in M&A deals in the US technology sector, fuelled in part by SPAC transactions.

Growth at the firm's London office was even more impressive than the firmwide performance, increasing by 50% to hit $105m from the $70m recorded in 2020. 

Justin Stock, Cooley’s London managing partner, said: “We had a tremendous year in London and are proud of the team’s stellar results.”

Stock highlighted the firm’s recent relocation to new premises located at 22 Bishopsgate, a 62 storey skyscraper which also houses US rivals McDermott Will & Emery and Covington & Burling. He added that the firm was excited to follow up its positive start to the year with further efforts to “build on our platform as a go-to player in tech and life sciences in Europe”. 

Cooley also cited its growing litigation platform, which saw it recruit nine partners from Winston & Strawn, Latham & Watkins and DLA Piper to open an office in Chicago in May. It went on to add a trio of litigation partners — including Latham & Watkins’ former Chicago litigation group chair and ex-Department of Justice lawyer Matthew Kutcher — to its new Windy City shop in July. 

Last week, Reed Smith unveiled its own set of financial results which also detailed a strong performance by its London office. The Pittsburgh firm’s City base grew revenue by 13.5% from $214m to $243m against a firmwide 9.6% jump in revenue to $1.44bn, the best financial performance achieved by the firm in its 145-year history.