How to benchmark competitors effectively (without losing context) Competitor benchmarking can feel like a corporate version of keeping up with the Joneses but how much attention should you pay to what other players in your sector are doing? This article will explore how headcount benchmarking specifically can be of use and what contextual factors you need to consider to use it effectively. Reading time: 5 minutes An analogy – the…
Quick Hits The Trump administration is scheduled to rescind the Biden-era independent contractor rule, months after the DOL stopped enforcing the current rule. The current independent contractor rule, issued in 2024, adopted the multifactor “totality of the circumstances” test that has been used by the courts for years, albeit with commentary signaling enforcement of various factors in a manner that was wrought with potential challenges for employers. This rule still…
Are you looking for guidance on a tenant request to assign its lease or sublet a portion of its premises? This article sets out what each landlord should know in preparation for such a request. Commercial landlords select their tenants carefully, often after a robust due diligence process on the tenant’s financial covenant, as well as how this tenant fits within landlord’s leasing strategies for the property. By the time…
The Philip Leverhulme Prizes commemorate the contribution to the work of the Leverhulme Trust made by Philip, Third Viscount Leverhulme and grandson of William Lever, the founder of the Trust. This year, the Leverhulme Trust awarded five prizes in each of the following subject areas: Archaeology, Chemistry, Economics, Engineering, Geography, and Languages and Literatures.Each prize winner will receive £100,000 to be used for any purpose that advances their research.About the…
The 2025 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), ‘Overlapping Hardships: Poverty and Climate Hazards’, presents critical new evidence of how the climate crisis is reshaping global poverty. This report shows where the climate crisis and poverty are notably converging. Understanding where the planet is under greatest strain and where people face additional burdens created by climate challenges is essential to creating mutually reinforcing development strategies that put humanity at the centre of…
17 October 2025By Pauline Avril, Maciej Grodzicki, Lukas Jürgensmeier and Alessandro RicciBanks have bought back over €60 billion of their own shares since 2020, which is a sign of the industry’s confidence. However, share buybacks can also reduce the capital banks have available for potential crises. This blog post examines how euro area banks’ share prices reacted to these buybacks.Share buybacks indicate that a bank’s management is confident in its…
Chronic pain, a leading global cause of disability, is one of the great unmet needs in medicine. In the UK alone, between one-third and one-half of the adult population (just under 28 million) are affected by chronic pain, costing health services millions in direct treatment, with indirect costs in lost productivity estimated to be billions. But despite its scale, progress in chronic pain treatments has stalled with few major breakthroughs…
A team of researchers, led by Cambridge University, has now formulated a method to assess whether carbon removal portfolios can help limit global warming over centuries.The approach also distinguishes between buying credits to offset risk versus claiming net-negative emissions. The study paves the way for nature-based carbon removal projects – such as planting new forests or restoring existing ones – to become effective climate change solutions when balanced with a portfolio…
Speaking at the Sheldonian Theatre on the subject of ‘Empire, Identity and the Search for Reason’, award-winning journalist Mishal Husain talked of a search for points of light, and finding them beyond the headlines, in history and forgotten context: ‘In that tapestry are the common threads that enrich my understanding of the world and that give me hope’.The ‘search for reason’ is part of this Lecture’s title because my own…
San Francisco – October 10, 2025 – Cooley advised Kalshi, the first Commodity Futures Trading Commission-regulated exchange dedicated to trading on the outcome of future events, on its $300 million Series D financing, valuing the company at $5 billion. The round was co-led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Sequoia Capital, with additional participation from Paradigm, Coinbase Ventures, General Catalyst, Spark Capital and CapitalG. Lawyers Kevin Rooney, Mike Perretta, Barry Kuang…
On September 15, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Office of Mergers and Acquisitions responded to a no-action request from Exxon Mobil Corporation (Exxon), confirming that it would not recommend enforcement action under Exchange Act Rule 14a-4(d)(2) or Rule 14a-4(d)(3) if the company adopted a proposed automatic retail voting program. The program, which Exxon began implementing with soliciting materials pursuant to Rule 14a-12 sent to investors on September 17, would…
New York – October 14, 2025 – Cooley’s global M&A and private equity practices were recognized based on their M&A and private equity activity on Q3 league tables from Bloomberg, Mergermarket and LSEG Data & Analytics. Cooley’s M&A and private equity practices continue to dominate in public and private transactions in the US and globally – despite the unsettled market. Cooley’s top rankings by deal count: Bloomberg #3 for US and global M&A…
San Francisco – October 14, 2025 – Cooley advised Reducto, the leading artificial intelligence document intelligence platform, on its $75 million Series B financing, bringing Reducto’s total funding to date to $108 million. The round was led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from existing investors Benchmark, First Round Capital, BoxGroup and Y Combinator. Lawyers Tara Capsuto, Kevin Rooney, Jeremy Ungerman-Sears, Nate Gray and Karem Jarada led the Cooley team advising…
In his logic, protectionism and tariff barriers are a necessary and, as he sees it, effective lever for rebalancing bilateral trade. However, the trade war launched by Trump during his first term highlighted the limitations of this approach. Contrary to expectations, the trade deficit has not narrowed; if anything, it has widened. While tariffs may temporarily slow imports, they do not address the root of the problem, namely the structural…
The Life and Mind building, enabled by Legal & General (L&G), is one of the largest building projects in the University’s history and will be home to the Departments of Biology and Experimental Psychology, as well as the Ineos Oxford Institute for antimicrobial research (IOI). Designed by internationally-renowned architecture practice NBBJ, it will enable researchers to investigate the most fundamental questions of our age – from what it means to…
The NHS incurs an estimated £340 million in additional healthcare costs annually due to weight-related health problems in children, but it is not just obesity driving the costs. New research from the University of Oxford reveals that underweight children need comparable medical support as those who are severely obese, challenging assumptions about childhood health priorities.The study, published in JAMA Network Open and funded by the National Institute for Health and…
The nearly £500 million fund will make it possible for the 79 UK colleges, universities and other institutions involved in the coalition – formed by the Banking Engagement Forum based in the Dept of Land Economy at the University of Cambridge – to make short-term cash-like investments without contributing to fossil fuel expansion within capital debt markets.“This is the first cash fund we know of that will avoid providing liquidity…
Every October, World Mental Health Day shines a spotlight on the importance of protecting and promoting mental wellbeing at work and beyond – serving as a reminder that mental health is not just a personal matter, it is a collective responsibility. For employers, it is both a moral duty and a legal requirement to ensure that the workplace is a safe, supportive environment. With rising rates of stress and burnout…
Singapore – September 29, 2025 – Cooley advised Full-Life Technologies, a fully integrated global radiotherapeutics company, on its $77 million Series C financing. This financing will advance development of Full-Life’s radiopharmaceutical pipeline worldwide and manufacturing capabilities in Belgium. Junson Capital led the financing, with new investors Lapam Capital, Plaisance, TruMed Investment and other prestigious investors, as well as participation from existing shareholders Gordian Ventures, HSG, Prosperity7, Summer Capital and other…
Palo Alto – October 8, 2025 – Cooley advised InnoCare Pharma, a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company committed to discovering, developing and commercializing first-in-class and best-in-class drugs for the treatment of cancers and autoimmune diseases with unmet medical needs in China and worldwide, on its transformational license agreement with Zenas BioPharma, granting Zenas global development and commercialization rights to orelabrutinib for multiple sclerosis and across all therapeutic areas other than oncology. Under…
Palo Alto – October 13, 2025 – Cooley partner John Bostic was inducted into the American College of Trial Lawyers (ACTL) during the organization’s national meeting on October 11. Founded in 1950, the ACTL is widely considered the premier professional trial organization in North America. Its membership comprises the best of the trial bar from the United States and Canada. Fellowship in the college is extended by invitation only –…
The new discovery follows the success of an excavation in summer 2024 at Dewars Farm quarry near Bicester, which featured on BBC Two’s Digging For Britain. This revealed hundreds of dinosaur footprints dating back to the Middle Jurassic Period (around 166 million years ago), from both the 9 metre carnivore Megalosaurus, and enormous herbivorous dinosaurs up to twice that size.Through these excavations and analyses, we are building a more and…
University of Cambridge scientists have used human stem cells to create three-dimensional embryo-like structures that replicate certain aspects of very early human development – including the production of blood stem cells.Human blood stem cells, also known as hematopoietic stem cells, are immature cells that can develop into any type of blood cell, including red blood cells that carry oxygen and various types of white blood cells crucial to the immune…
Professor Charles Spence. Credit: Caroline Wood. If you are wondering why the price of pistachios has surged this year, Dubai chocolate takes a lot of the blame. This confectionary creation – a chocolate bar filled with a mix of pistachio and shredded filo pastry – became an international sensation this year after a social media influencer filmed themselves eating it. Within months, supermarkets were scrambling to launch their own versions,…
On 10 September 2025, the UK’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) issued a notice imposing a 152,750-pound penalty on Colorcon Limited, a UK-registered company. A global provider of pharmaceutical and nutritional supplies, Colorcon had been operating in Russia for nearly 15 years before the company’s eventual exit from the country in August 2022. OFSI’s penalty decision was made in response to the company’s breach of Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit)…