Cooley’s Rachel Proffitt Will Become Its First-Ever Female CEO

After more than 15 years, Cooley is getting a new leader.

The Silicon Valley-founded law firm announced on Monday that Rachel Proffitt will become the firm’s next chief executive officer, succeeding its longtime leader, Joe Conroy.

Proffitt, head of Cooley’s San Francisco corporate practice and member of the firm’s board of directors, will officially take over the position on Jan. 1, 2024, becoming the firm’s first-ever female CEO. Conroy, who has led the firm since 2008, will continue in his role as chairman.

“Rachel really stood out as the clear choice,” Conroy said in an interview with Bloomberg Law.

“She’s the perfect steward for us, and the next generation,” he said.

Proffitt joined Cooley in 2017 from Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and co-chairs the firm’s legal education committee and has served as a member of the firm’s strategic committee and board nominating committee.

Rachel Proffitt and Joe Conroy of Cooley

Over her 21-year career, she has built a robust corporate and securities law practice, working with public and private companies, as well as venture capital and investment banking firms and other institutional investors, across a broad range of industries.

Proffitt helped lead the Cooley team advising Maplebear Inc., the parent company of Instacart, on an initial public offering this month that will incur nearly $4.2 million in legal fees and expenses, according to a securities filing.

“I’ve had a service orientation my entire career,” Proffitt said. “This is a natural progression in that regard—service to the partnership and service to the firm and I’m incredibly honored about the opportunity to take on that new set of responsibilities.”

Proffitt’s selection to Cooley’s top spot comes amid a rough patch for the tech industry-focused law firm, which has a stable of prominent Silicon Valley clients, including Apple, Facebook parent Meta Platforms. Inc., and chip giant Nvidia Corp.

Business boomed to record levels for Cooley during the pandemic, thanks to the SPAC craze and record-setting IPOs. But a sustained downturn in the transactional sector in recent months slowed demand, forcing the firm, like others, to lay off attorneys and staff.

“We took some pretty painful measures and consistent with our culture we were transparent and honest about it,” Conroy said.

Even though deal work is still slow, Conroy said the firm is on track to meet its financial goals this year. The pipeline of work is there among its corporate client base, and it is just going to take “any little spark in the market” to change that deal flow, he said.

“I’m optimistic that we’re about to face another period of great growth in demand and great growth in the firm as a whole,” he said.

“Evolving Landscape Ahead”

Cooley’s succession process began in the fall of 2022, driven in part by Conroy’s mandatory retirement date scheduled for Dec. 31, 2026. Under the partnership agreement, Cooley’s board of directors selects the CEO. The board appointed a subcommittee that surveyed more than 300 partners for their input on its next leader.

“We, I, the board wanted to time this effort so that we’d have enough time with me continuing to be chair to demonstrate a commitment to continuity and ensure an effective and seamless transition,” Conroy said.

Like his predecessor Stephen Neal did at the start of Conroy’s tenure as CEO, Conroy will remain chair of the law firm. Neal transitioned to the role of chairman after serving as Cooley’s CEO from 2001 until 2007, before retiring in 2020.

As Cooley’s new CEO, Proffitt will focus on executing the firm’s strategic priorities as well as managing its day to day operations..

“I don’t believe that there’s a better firm, a better platform to service the sorts of clients and industries that we want to service and it’s a privilege to be able to carry this vision forward,” Proffitt said.

Under Conroy’s leadership, Cooley has grown from a predominantly West Coast firm to a global one with more than 1,400 lawyers worldwide and more than $2 billion in gross revenue in 2023.

Top of mind for Proffitt as she steps into her role in a few months is to strengthen and reinforce the firm’s culture, leaning into its innovative spirit that will allow it to continue to shape its unique, strategic vision for the future ahead, she said.

“There’s no perfect roadmap,” Proffitt said. “There’s an evolving landscape ahead of us and just as our clients are dynamic, we’re going to need to be the same and continue to evolve as their needs do.”