Press Release

Cooley Bolsters Emerging Companies, Venture Capital Practice With London Partner Hires From Three Firms

September 10, 2024

London – September 10, 2024 – Cooley has further expanded its emerging companies and venture capital (ECVC) practice in London with the addition of three new partners: Angus Miln, Ali Ramadan and Helen Pantelides. The trio reinforces Cooley’s position as the preeminent leader in high-growth, disruptive industries for private companies and investors in the UK, Europe and globally.

Miln, Ramadan and Pantelides advise many of the world’s top venture capital, growth, and crossover investors in the technology and life sciences sectors. They represent companies throughout their life cycles, including formation, ongoing counseling, financings, and scaling towards M&A and liquidity transactions.

Miln – a Tier 1-ranked lawyer in UK legal directories for the past 16 years and a current Legal 500 Hall of Famer – joins from Taylor Wessing, where he was head of the ECVC practice. Ramadan and Pantelides, who join from Goodwin and White & Case, respectively, are widely recognised as prominent practitioners in the London market, representing some of the UK’s most exciting breakout companies, as well as many of the world’s brand-name institutional investors. Having previously worked together at different firms, the team has chosen to reunite on the Cooley platform to further accelerate the firm’s market-leading ECVC offering.

“Angus, Ali and Helen are among London’s most outstanding and well-regarded advisers to emerging companies and the venture capital industry,” said Claire Keast-Butler, co-partner in charge at Cooley in London. “Their experience, entrepreneurial approach and extensive market connectivity are a perfect fit for us. We are excited about the huge opportunity our expanded ECVC practice in London will bring to the wider firm and our clients as we continue to execute on our ambitious growth strategy.”

“The addition of these stellar new partners confirms Cooley as the go-to destination in London for high-growth, innovative businesses and their investors, as the firm has been for decades in the US,” said Cooley CEO Rachel Proffitt. “London continues to see a significant increase in the deployment of capital from US and other international investors, and its increasingly well-established ecosystem is producing some of the world’s most exciting, disruptive businesses. We look forward to accelerating our growth in the London market.”

Miln worked closely with Cooley as part of The British Private Equity & Venture Capital Association’s (BVCA) project to update its standardised documents for venture funding rounds, and as part of the four-lawyer task force put together by the UK government to structure the Future Fund for startups during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cooley is a founding partner of Diversity VC and WVC:E (Women in Venture Capital Europe), organisations which champion diversity and inclusion in the sector.

About Cooley LLP

Cooley has a client base of 7,000+ high-growth, innovative private companies, which provides access to the largest and most influential network of venture capital investors in the world. Cooley advises on 1,700+ VC financings annually and is primary fund counsel to 700+ investment fund organisations. The firm also offers Cooley GO, a dynamic online center providing investors and entrepreneurs with complimentary information, legal document-generation tools, and quarterly VC market deal data and analysis.

Consistently ranked as an industry leader by Chambers and The Legal 500, Cooley’s accolades include its status as the #1 law firm in the US and globally for representing companies in VC financing deals (PitchBook, 2023) and #1 for European foreign private issuer (FPI) US IPOs since 2016 (Deal Point Data, 2023).

Cooley has 1,300+ lawyers across 19 offices in the United States, Asia and Europe, and a total workforce of more than 3,000.

This content is provided for general informational purposes only, and your access or use of the content does not create an attorney-client relationship between you or your organization and Cooley LLP, Cooley (UK) LLP, or any other affiliated practice or entity (collectively referred to as “Cooley”). By accessing this content, you agree that the information provided does not constitute legal or other professional advice. This content is not a substitute for obtaining legal advice from a qualified attorney licensed in your jurisdiction and you should not act or refrain from acting based on this content. This content may be changed without notice. It is not guaranteed to be complete, correct or up to date, and it may not reflect the most current legal developments. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Do not send any confidential information to Cooley, as we do not have any duty to keep any information you provide to us confidential. This content may be considered Attorney Advertising and is subject to our legal notices.