Cooley reviews

Promotion potential can be tricky because a lot of departments are leanly staffed. Sometimes people can feel overworked, but mostly they just find it hard to get ahead.

You work with attorneys. Some are nice, some are jerks and some intentionally go out of their way to demoralize you. Even the nice ones have their moments. They are all petty to some degree. Coming from two other law firms in SF, I can say that the upstairs/downstairs mentality is much less pronounced here. However, I feel that firm values are changing and Cooley may soon fall into the ranks of Wilson and the like. I know most associates. paralegals, and staff, myself included (obviously), feel under-appreciated and overworked. As a non-exempt employee, I find there is no benefit in working harder than my fellow assistants. Rewards are minimal best and pay seems to be solely based on seniority. No upward mobility, nor do they encourage promoting within, but it's a law firm so that's to be expected.