New York – December 2, 2021 – Lina Zhou has joined Cooley's market-leading fund formation practice group as a partner in New York. Arriving from Kirkland & Ellis, where she was a partner in the investment funds practice group, Zhou has an impressive history of advising clients on fund formation transactions and significant experience counseling investment fund organizations.
"Lina possesses the client service skills, energy and legal acumen that will translate to great success within our VC fund-oriented platform," said John Dado, partner and chair of Cooley's fund formation practice. "Our existing fund clients in the region will rejoice to have the benefit of her insight and talents, and her arrival sets us up to provide our brand of pragmatic business advice to an even broader set of firms and funds. We are excited to welcome Lina to the team."
Zhou's practice focuses on the formation, operation and regulatory compliance of private funds and other investment vehicles. She earned her undergraduate degree from New York University and her JD from Columbia Law School.
"I am thrilled to join Cooley's esteemed global fund formation practice and excited to collaborate across the firm to help amplify the elite support we provide to our fund clients," Zhou said. "I look forward to expanding my practice within the firm's unique and collaborative culture, supporting innovation and inclusivity, and contributing to the team's continued growth."
With a team of 50+ lawyers focused full time on fund formation, Cooley is primary fund counsel to 600+ investment fund organizations. In 2020, the team closed 370+ funds, raising more than $34 billion in capital commitments, and is on pace to exceed those levels this year. The firm is deeply committed to its global practice, which represents venture capital, growth equity, private equity and fund of funds managers with primary operations and/or investments in the US, Asia and Europe.
The fund formation group also runs Vanilla by Cooley, a proprietary, secure, cloud-based platform designed for fund managers to give investors a streamlined interface to subscribe for and manage fund interests online or on mobile. The group's blog, TheFundLawyer, is an information source for VC managers with a focus on industry trends and customs, as well as recent legal and tax developments.