Cooley has appointed Wendy C. Goldstein to the firm as a partner in its health care and life sciences regulatory practice. Goldstein, who will be based in Cooley’s New York office, was previously a partner at Epstein Becker & Green.

Cooley has appointed Jamie Leigh as a partner and member of the mergers & acquisitions group. Leigh, who will be based in Cooley’s San Francisco office, joins the firm from Latham & Watkins. Leigh’s practice focuses on sophisticated, complex mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, private equity investments and restructurings.

Some Silicon Valley attorneys leave their practice to pursue venture-like returns. Former Cooley attorney Kirk Dizon, who last year cofounded the fund of funds Institutional Global Investors, is but one example. But the attorneys who stick around at Cooley also manage to place bets on some of the many interesting startups to which they have access.

Sol Systems, a Washington, D.C.-based solar finance firm, has added two people to its board of advisors: Jonathan Silver and Ed Feo. Silver has worked within the federal government, leading investments in clean and renewable energy; he has also cofounded a venture capital firm called Core Capital Partners. Feo is the managing director of USRG Renewable Finance, the renewable-energy-focused private equity firm.

Sol Systems has also hired Stephanie Smith as general counsel and EVP for operations. Smith was previously an associate at Cooley LLP.

Third quarter venture deal making saw a softening of early and growth stage valuations, but a continued high level of competition in later rounds. Median pre-money valuations fell in Series A and B deals, and up rounds across all stages of venture financing slumped modestly to 71% of deals compared with 77% in the second quarter, the law firm Cooley reports.

Pre-money valuations were higher. Up rounds greatly outnumbered down rounds. And deals with tranches and participating preferred stock were less common. The second quarter was a good time to be an entrepreneur.

Deals with pre-money valuations of more than $100 million increased substantially, to 17% of transactions, a level not seen since 2005.

Venture deal volume has slowed. But valuations creep higher. And while many venture capitalists anticipate investing will fall in 2012, they see brightening exit markets for IPOs and M&A. These conflicting views are evident in a venture industry decidedly less optimistic than a year ago and unsettled by the economic realities of a trying year [...]

Legal firm Cooley has opened an office in Shanghai, China. The office extends the firm’s reach in advising innovative companies and investors in sectors including venture capital and spanning software, hardware and mobile technology, digital and social media, life sciences and clean energy. The firm has offices in major business and technology centers across the [...]

Earlier this week, Cooley offered a sanguine portrait of the venture landscape. More than 72% of second quarter financings were up rounds, the largest percent since the fourth quarter of 2009, the law firm said. This enthusiasm for deals was so strong that the average Series A valuation rose to $8 million, the highest in [...]