NQ Salary
~£157,000
TC Salary
~£55,000 / £60,000 (year 1 / year 2)
Annual Intake
~6 per year (London)
Seats
4 seats
This profile is compiled from publicly available sources and may not reflect the latest changes. Always check Cooley's official careers page for current deadlines, application processes, and programme details.
Cooley's London office has 34 partners and 69 solicitors, and the firm has 18 offices elsewhere. Chambers UK 2026 ranks it Band 1 for life sciences transactions and defendant product liability, and Band 2 for venture capital investment.
The training contract
Generated by Folio · folioapp.co.uk · 13 September 2026
Folio is independent and not affiliated with any firm listed. Salary and deadline information is approximate. Always verify with the firm's official graduate recruitment page.
A support network of a partner, a mentor and a buddy for every trainee
Trainee Solicitor Programme
Opens 1 Oct 2026
Recruited only from the spring and summer programmes, which open 1 October · Six places a year
An evening with Cooley (5 October 2026)
Registration from 4 September on the firm's application system · Deadline not published
Acing your application, online (14 October 2026)
Registration from 4 September on the firm's application system · Deadline not published
Meet our vac schemers, online (28 October 2026)
Registration from 4 September on the firm's application system · Deadline not published
Meet our diversity fellows, online (17 November 2026)
Registration from 4 September on the firm's application system · Deadline not published
Spring & Summer Vacation Schemes 2027
Opens 1 Oct 2026
Opens 1 October · Closing date not yet published · Two-week programmes, about seven places each
Diversity Fellowship (summer 2027)
Opens 1 Oct 2026
Opens 1 October alongside the summer programme · Details not yet published for 2027
Assessment processes change annually. Always check the firm's website for current details.
Deals and announcements in the firm's own words. Naming a recent matter is the fastest way to show you have paid attention.
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Practice questions built around Cooley's actual assessment stages, with “Why this firm?” evidence traced to verified facts.
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For full-time students at a UK university, graduating from a UK law school no later than 2028, with a demonstrated commitment to promoting inclusion and no inclusion award from another firm in the same year. Fellows join the two-week London summer programme a year earlier than the usual eligibility (paid £550 a week), are considered for a second programme, and receive a bursary of up to £12,000 in three instalments, the last on joining as a trainee. Applied for at the end of the first year of a three-year law degree, or the second year of a non-law or four-year course.
The 2026 fellowship ran with the summer programme of 29 June to 10 July 2026. The next window is not yet published.
Four work experience places a year, of at least four days in the Easter holidays, for Year 12 students already on the Sutton Trust's Pathways to Law programme. Real tasks, skills sessions and time with Cooley trainees. Express interest in Cooley to your Pathways coordinator.
Runs in the Easter holidays. Apply to Pathways to Law through the Sutton Trust, then ask your coordinator for a Cooley placement.
Independent Resource
Folio is an independent student project and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or officially connected to Cooley. All information is compiled from publicly available sources and may not reflect the most current data. Salary and deadline figures are approximate, based on prior recruitment cycles. Always check the firm's official graduate recruitment page for confirmed details.