Erik Edwards, a former Cooley business partner who left in 2011 to serve as General Counsel and later as the Managing Director of the family office of Google co-founder Sergey Brin, has re-joined Cooley as a partner in its business department.

Edwards, who first joined Cooley as a summer associate in 1999, and became a partner in 2009, will reside in the firm’s Palo Alto office where he will re-establish a practice focused on the representation of emerging growth companies, investors and public companies on a wide range of matters including financings, mergers and acquisitions and corporate governance matters.

“While it was a difficult decision for me to leave Cooley in 2011, it was for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work with Sergey to do something truly unique,” Edwards said. “Cooley has a history of partnering with the most innovative companies in the Valley and beyond, so I always knew that if I were to return to private practice, this is where it would be.”

“Prior to accepting the unique opportunity to work with Mr. Brin, Erik had proven himself to be a gifted lawyer, a trusted mentor and a wonderful partner,” said Fred Muto, head of the firm’s business department. “We could not be more excited to welcome him back to the firm where we know he will quickly reassert himself as one of Silicon Valley’s ‘go to’ business lawyers.”

Edwards received a JD, cum laude, from the Santa Clara University School of Law in May 2000, where he served as the business editor of the Santa Clara Law Review. He was the recipient of the Witkin Award for Academic Excellence in Securities Regulation and the CALI Excellence for the Future Award in the Legal Profession. He also served as an extern for Judge James Ware of the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California. In 1997, Edwards received a BA in Law and Society from the American University.

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