The School of Law welcomes back alumnus Darryl Cooke to speak to current students
On the evening of Tuesday 14 March the School of Law welcomed back 1981 alumnus, and founder of law firm ‘gunnercooke’, Darryl Cooke.
School of Law Director of Employability Alex Batesmith and lecturer Dr Alvaro Pereira spoke to Darryl in front of a group of over 60 students from the School of Law.
In 2010 after working for several global law firms Darryl founded gunnercooke, with its unique model to challenge the leading law firms. gunnercooke is now one of the fastest growing law firms in the UK with over 200 partners. He describes the model as giving lawyers their lives back.
Darryl is also the author of "Private Equity: Law and Practice", now in its 7th edition and sold in 40 countries throughout the World.
He was recently included in The Lawyers’s Hot 100, a list of the UK’s leading lawyers who make a difference.
I really enjoyed it and the students were very talkative which is a very good sign!
The School of Law holds ‘Alumni Talks’ which feature a talk and Q&A session with alumni; all held in the School’s Liberty Building. Students who sign up to the talks are also able to give a brief explanation of why they would be particularly interested in speaking to specific alumni and those who provide the most impressive answers join the alumni and School of Law academics for dinner.
It was a pleasure to meet Darryl and listen to the story of his career. I was thrilled to learn from an alumnus of Leeds. Darryl founded gunnercooke in 2010 with a different and unique business model. The rapid rise of his firm shows that there are multiple pathways to achieve success. All lawyers can benefit from an entrepreneurial mindset.
