WSGR SV vs. Cooley SV (corporate) Forum

[Anonymous User]

Narrowed my choices down to these two firms. Personally I like Cooley better/ready to commit and vibed with my interviewers. WSGR is a great firm but stuff I saw about its culture/siloed nature kinda scares me. Is this outdated or still somewhat relevant? Culture is really my #1 priority since let's be honest they do the same type of work and deal with the same type of client base. WSGR is also doing more public company work nowadays, and I'm really interested in doing more VC work, which Cooley is clearly a top firm for. Is there any other substantive differences that I should be aware of? Really just making sure that I'm making the right decision here. Long term goal is either to make partner (like that's really gonna happen) or go in house at a tech company/startup. Open to doing VC/PE in the future as well.

[attorney589753]

Both are good, but go with Cooley

[Anonymous User]

Both are good, but go with Cooley

Could you elaborate on this? Any particular reason you would pick Cooley over WSGR?

[Anonymous User]

Cooley is the much better firm (and still on the rise) at this point. I have heard better things about its culture as well.

[Anonymous User]

Cooley is the much better firm (and still on the rise) at this point.

Genuinely curious - what are you basing this on?

[Anonymous User]

Cooley is the much better firm (and still on the rise) at this point. I have heard better things about its culture as well.

OP here and really want to know why as well.

[attorney589753]

Both are good, but go with Cooley

Could you elaborate on this? Any particular reason you would pick Cooley over WSGR?

In my view it is one of the firms that combines great work in the space, great reputation, and a good culture (relative to biglaw). Over past 5-10 years they've had big growth in EC/VC. And since you emphasized culture it is a no brainer IMO — unless you uniquely liked WSGR's culture, most people seem to prefer Cooley.

[Anonymous User]

Cooley is the much better firm (and still on the rise) at this point. I have heard better things about its culture as well.

OP here and really want to know why as well.

Several excellent WSGR partners have come over to Cooley in the past 5ish years. I'm not aware of the reverse happening.

Also look at the Vault ranking trajectory for Cooley in the past 5-10 years, and compare to WSGR. 2011 - WSGR was 45, Cooley was 58. 2022 - WSGR is 38, Cooley is 24. For the Bay area, in 2011, WSGR was 3 and Cooley was 10. 2022 - WSGR is 3, Cooley is 1.

[Anonymous User]

Cooley is the much better firm (and still on the rise) at this point. I have heard better things about its culture as well.

OP here and really want to know why as well.

Several excellent WSGR partners have come over to Cooley in the past 5ish years. I'm not aware of the reverse happening.

Also look at the Vault ranking trajectory for Cooley in the past 5-10 years, and compare to WSGR. 2011 - WSGR was 45, Cooley was 58. 2022 - WSGR is 38, Cooley is 24. For the Bay area, in 2011, WSGR was 3 and Cooley was 10. 2022 - WSGR is 3, Cooley is 1.

lmao at unironically citing Vault ranking trajectories

[Anonymous User]

WSGR has more history and prestige among older folks (and some newer folks, too).

Cooley has successfully marketed the idea of "happier associates" to law students for some time, and I think is more popular right now because of this. I question whether there actually is a difference in associate QOL.

WSGR is more "type A" than Cooley. Obviously many law students are not type A. Personally I found Cooley slightly annoying.

Both firms are very healthy and on the up. Cooley seems more focused on growing outside SV.

Fun fact: WSGR operates as a corporation, not a partnership.

[Anonymous User]

Cooley is the much better firm (and still on the rise) at this point. I have heard better things about its culture as well.

OP here and really want to know why as well.

Several excellent WSGR partners have come over to Cooley in the past 5ish years. I'm not aware of the reverse happening.

FWIW WSGR poached quite a few partners over the years as well (just not from Cooley)

[Anonymous User]

Cooley is the much better firm (and still on the rise) at this point. I have heard better things about its culture as well.

OP here and really want to know why as well.

Several excellent WSGR partners have come over to Cooley in the past 5ish years. I'm not aware of the reverse happening.

FWIW WSGR poached quite a few partners over the years as well (just not from Cooley)

If you look at lateral movement between Cooley and WSGR at the partner AND associate levels, it’s heavy one-way traffic from WSGR TO Cooley. I’d estimate maybe a dozen partners in the last 3-4 years alone. That speaks volumes.

[Anonymous User]

Cooley is the much better firm (and still on the rise) at this point. I have heard better things about its culture as well.

OP here and really want to know why as well.

Several excellent WSGR partners have come over to Cooley in the past 5ish years. I'm not aware of the reverse happening.

FWIW WSGR poached quite a few partners over the years as well (just not from Cooley)

If you look at lateral movement between Cooley and WSGR at the partner AND associate levels, it’s heavy one-way traffic from WSGR TO Cooley. I’d estimate maybe a dozen partners in the last 3-4 years alone. That speaks volumes.

Such a weird string of logic in this thread. Vault rankings and lateral movement as proxies for firm quality and associate culture? I honestly think it would be difficult to pick two more similar firms in terms of history, go-to-market strategy, practice focus, and associate outcomes. One platform may not be the right one for everyone at a particular stage of their career, and Cooley has done a great job aggre$$ively expanding and competing over the years. It's an awesome firm. No doubt WSGR's more conservative approach can be frustrating at times.

I'm a corporate senior at WSGR and have been across from Cooley teams constantly at every step of my career, including my former colleagues who are now there (or Fenwick or Gunderson or Goodwin or seemingly everywhere in-house at this point). I can 100% assure you that my Cooley friends receive fantastic training, benefit from wonderful deal flow, and enjoy terrific exit opportunities if/when desired .... and also that they navigate fantastic firm politics, benefit from just as many wonderful hours, and enjoy terrific demands on their lives while at their firms. Marketing teams have sure been earning their keep recently trying to sell quality of life distinctions between biglaw firms to law students and laterals. I can only speak for corporate but ask any associate in this market, regardless of firm, and I think most will say they are just trying to survive at this point.

To OP, I hope you can find a team of people you like working with wherever you choose to start your career; that's made the biggest difference in my own experience.

[elibeth129]

Cooley is the much better firm (and still on the rise) at this point. I have heard better things about its culture as well.

OP here and really want to know why as well.

Several excellent WSGR partners have come over to Cooley in the past 5ish years. I'm not aware of the reverse happening.

FWIW WSGR poached quite a few partners over the years as well (just not from Cooley)

If you look at lateral movement between Cooley and WSGR at the partner AND associate levels, it’s heavy one-way traffic from WSGR TO Cooley. I’d estimate maybe a dozen partners in the last 3-4 years alone. That speaks volumes.

Such a weird string of logic in this thread. Vault rankings and lateral movement as proxies for firm quality and associate culture? I honestly think it would be difficult to pick two more similar firms in terms of history, go-to-market strategy, practice focus, and associate outcomes. One platform may not be the right one for everyone at a particular stage of their career, and Cooley has done a great job aggre$$ively expanding and competing over the years. It's an awesome firm. No doubt WSGR's more conservative approach can be frustrating at times.

I'm a corporate senior at WSGR and have been across from Cooley teams constantly at every step of my career, including my former colleagues who are now there (or Fenwick or Gunderson or Goodwin or seemingly everywhere in-house at this point). I can 100% assure you that my Cooley friends receive fantastic training, benefit from wonderful deal flow, and enjoy terrific exit opportunities if/when desired .... and also that they navigate fantastic firm politics, benefit from just as many wonderful hours, and enjoy terrific demands on their lives while at their firms. Marketing teams have sure been earning their keep recently trying to sell quality of life distinctions between biglaw firms to law students and laterals. I can only speak for corporate but ask any associate in this market, regardless of firm, and I think most will say they are just trying to survive at this point.

To OP, I hope you can find a team of people you like working with wherever you choose to start your career; that's made the biggest difference in my own experience.

It's a weird string of logic that a lot of people moving from one firm to another firm in one direction is a sign that maybe there's a reason they're doing that, which is one thing to be taken into account by someone picking between the two firms?