Slaughter and May’s Steve Cooke Joins Brunswick in Strategic Career Pivot

Law career changes are occurring with increasing frequency across multiple levels of the legal profession. The latest high profile change reported by the Financial Times is for Steve Cooke, the head of Slaughter and May is set to join Brunswick, a public relations group, next year.

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But for Steve Cooke, who once had a punk band, the Stereotypes, while he was still at Oxford and who has also had a successful side gig writing music for tv and film documentaries and two memoirs, a change like this is nothing unusual.

This move marks a significant career transition for Cooke, who has been a leading figure in London’s M&A legal scene, serving clients like Diageo and British Airways. His shift to Brunswick as a partner comes after an eight-year tenure leading Slaughter and May.

Slaughter and May, very much a blue-blood London firm that has shunned the desire to buy other practices but rather ‘grown their own’ in a tight partnership, continues to prosper with a list of profile clients, which includes about one-third of the FTSE 100 companies.

Cooke’s decision reflects a growing trend among senior partners of major corporate law firms who have been leaving the legal profession for roles in corporate advisory and investment banking.

Notable departures include Charlie Jacobs from Linklaters to JPMorgan and former Freshfields executives Will Lawes and Mark Rawlinson moving to Lazard and Morgan Stanley, respectively.

Brunswick, under the chairmanship of Sir Alan Parker, positions itself as a comprehensive advisor to companies, extending beyond traditional public relations. The firm has diversified its talent pool by hiring former executives and officials from various global organizations.

In his new role at Brunswick, Cooke will provide advice on mergers, corporate crises, and litigation. This transition comes despite neither Brunswick nor Slaughter and May being primary beneficiaries of the private equity boom, as both firms have traditionally focused on advising large listed companies, including many in the FTSE 100.

Law Career Moves

Cooke’s career at Slaughter and May spanned four decades, during which he was involved in significant and politically sensitive deals, such as the Cadbury-Kraft takeover in 2010 and SoftBank’s acquisition of Arm in 2016.

He also has professional connections to Mike Lynch, a tech entrepreneur involved in a controversial takeover by Hewlett-Packard, a deal on which Cooke advised and Cooke is no stranger to taking innovative and creative opportunities wherever they occur.

Under Cooke’s leadership, Slaughter and May also invested in Luminance, a legal AI firm backed by Lynch’s Invoke Capital.

The Career Moves

Apart from his legal career, Cooke has authored two memoirs and enjoys creating his musical pieces for some significant documentaries, along with a music partner Russell Taylor he has worked with for some years.

Together they have done scores for Bafta and Emmy award winners and had their music mentioned in Bafta dispatches, including doing the music for the last David Attenborough film, the Queen’s Green Planet.

His autobiography is The Morning Of Our Lives a humourous take on growing up in the 60s, with references to much of his most beloved music, along with other popular culture shows, television and theatre.

He is also to become the chair of pub operator Young’s in July. And doubtless his law career-come-PR career will continue to involve creative endeavours as well.