David Selden has joined Cooley’s fund formation practice group as a partner in the firm’s New York office. Returning to practice in the US, Selden arrives from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), where he led the alternative investment funds legal practice in the UK.

“The breadth of Dave’s experience will significantly enhance our global fund formation practice and help deepen our relationships with funds on the ground in New York,” said John Dado, partner and chair of Cooley’s fund formation practice. “We are grateful and delighted to be joined by such a preeminent practitioner, whom several of our partners have practiced with over time. Dave will fit fabulously in our existing core strength with venture capital funds, and yet we also anticipate that his experience with all manner of private funds will allow us to powerfully serve clients whose needs are more extensive and specialized.”

Before his time at PwC, Selden was a partner for more than 10 years at Fried Frank in New York and London. His practice focuses on private investment vehicles – including venture capital funds, hedge funds, private equity funds, hybrid funds and fund of funds. He has been an adviser to major financial institutions, fund sponsors, institutional investors and investment advisers on fund offerings, management company structure, bespoke products and managed accounts.

“I’m delighted to join Cooley’s premier fund formation practice and to be a part of the firm’s unique, one-team culture,” said Selden. “I look forward to collaborating with colleagues across regions as we help clients solidify their organizations, expand into new markets and form new, adjacent funds as they look to spearhead growth.”

With a team of 50+ lawyers focusing full time on fund formation, Cooley is primary fund counsel to more than 750 investment fund organizations. Over the past year, the team advised 520+ fund clients on closings, with more than $60 billion committed to these funds. The global practice 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 group also runs Vanilla by Cooley, a proprietary, cloud-based solution for raising and administering private, closed-end investment funds, and TheFundLawyer, a blog with legal and tax insights for venture capital fund managers.