Initial public offerings are notorious for drowning legal teams in paperwork. Cooley, a firm that advised on 180 deals worth over $51.5 billion in 2025, is changing that dynamic. The firm launched GO Public, a proprietary tool built on ChatGPT Work, to automate the heavy lifting of IPO preparation. Instead of starting with generic precedents from similar companies, lawyers now begin with a tailored draft generated from the client’s specific data and curated public sources. This shift moves the starting line forward, allowing attorneys to focus on strategy rather than synthesis.
David Wang, Cooley’s Chief Innovation Officer, notes that IPOs involve thousands of constant tasks. The new system uses an “agentic harness” to control workflow steps. It dictates what the AI handles automatically and where human validation is mandatory. This structure embeds the firm’s decades of capital markets experience directly into the software. Wang describes this as “baked-in know-how,” ensuring that the AI doesn’t just guess but follows established legal protocols. The result is a controlled environment where technology accelerates review without compromising professional accountability.
The real value isn’t just speed; it’s attention allocation. Dave Peinsipp, co-chair of the global capital markets group, emphasizes that management teams are often distracted by daily business operations during IPO prep. By reducing the time spent on intensive document sorting, GO Public gives executives their time back. They can focus on the business narrative and strategic decisions that actually shape the offering. Peinsipp calls this “speed to quality,” arguing that getting to a strong draft sooner allows for deeper critical analysis of disclosures.
This move signals a broader transformation in a traditionally conservative industry. Cooley’s collaboration with OpenAI demonstrates how subject-matter expertise can merge with AI engineering to redefine service delivery. While the legal sector has been slow to adopt change, the pressure to handle massive information loads is forcing innovation. If GO Public delivers on its promise, it won’t just streamline IPOs. It could set a new standard for how high-stakes legal work is structured, prioritizing human judgment over manual drudgery.
