Cornerstone Research

 

Cornerstone Research may just be the most interesting consulting firm you’ve never heard of. Specializing in economic, financial and market analysis, specifically for cases in litigation, Cornerstone Research touts itself as the one player major law firms turn to when navigating the obstacle course that is the American and European legal systems.

For more than thirty years, the firm has provided economic and financial analysis in all phases of commercial litigation and regulatory proceedings. Cornerstone Research is there through every step of the legal process, helping to make sure its clients have access to the best witnesses and the most comprehensive, up-to-date economic analysis on the details of a case to ensure a favorable outcome.

The firm provides a range of services in all phases of commercial litigation and regulatory proceedings, including:

  • Consulting with lawyers
  • Engaging and supporting expert witnesses
  • Conducting research and analysis
  • Consulting on internal and regulatory inquiries
  • Consulting in motion practice
  • Preparing for deposition and trial

Oh, and in case you were wondering: the Cornerstone Research Collective – a marijuana dispensary located in Los Angeles – and the Cornerstone Research Group – a Midwest-based aerospace engineering firm – are not affiliated with Cornerstone Research!

Firm Profile Overview (click to jump to section):

CORNERSTONE RESEARCH KEY STATS

  • Cornerstone Research Website: https://www.cornerstone.com/
  • Cornerstone Research Headquarters: San Francisco, CA
  • Cornerstone Research Employees: 900+ employees
  • Cornerstone Research Locations: 7 U.S. offices; 2 international (London, UK and Brussels, Belgium)
  • Cornerstone Research Chief Executives: Rahul Guha (CEO) and Yesim Richardson (President)
  • Cornerstone Research Revenue: $270M (Privately held)
  • Cornerstone Research Engagement Cost: $350K

HISTORY

Founded in 1989 by three former consultants of the MAC Group (a boutique sales and distribution consulting firm), Cornerstone Research was established to be very different than the general management consulting firm it was birthed from; focused on unique clients, managing delicate client relationships, and offering specialized work. The three co-founders saw an opportunity in the niche market of litigation consulting.

It is no accident that the original two offices (Menlo Park and Boston) were established in regions with well-respected universities – Cornerstone Research began by cultivating relationships with the faculty experts they would need to be successful. From starting with under 50 employees to over 900 staff members today, Cornerstone has grown successfully without losing the familial culture that was so important to its co-founders.

CORNERSTONE RESEARCH ORGANIZATION

Cornerstone Research is headquartered in San Francisco, CA, with six other offices spread out across the United States and two in London.

Cornerstone Research Practice Areas

The practice areas at Cornerstone Research reflect the legal nature of the firm’s consulting projects and the knowledge required to build a strong legal defense for mostly-multinational clients. Note the diversity of industries Cornerstone Research works with, especially as many of these are quite specialized.

Cornerstone Research Industries

Cornerstone Research specializes in working with law firms and government entities. However, the cases that these law firms are involved in can represent any industry imaginable, including:

  • Automotive
  • Blockchain and cryptocurrency
  • Consumer finance
  • Energy and commodities
  • Fnancial institutions
  • Fintech
  • Healthcare
  • Hospitality, travel, and tourism
  • Insurance and pension plans
  • Life sciences
  • Manufacturing
  • Private equity and venture capital
  • Real estate
  • Technology
  • Digital economy and AI
  • Telecommunications, media, and entertainment

Cornerstone Research Office Locations

Cornerstone Research has offices in nine cities. Of those, seven offices are located in the United States, specifically in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and Washington D.C. To support European clients, the firm has offices in London and Brussels.

CORNERSTONE RESEARCH CAREERS

Cornerstone Research projects are highly specialized and outside the norm of general management consulting. You must have a love for piecing together, filling in, and validating a story, as this is what you are really doing when you are searching for the best expert witnesses for a case.

In contrast to MBB, where every project will be completely different from the last, there is much more repetition to the work at Cornerstone Research. While the cases you are involved with will be unique, different, challenging and span many industries, your role in regards to the case will mostly stay the same no matter what: you will be finding quality expert witnesses and conducting financial analysis (get ready for lots of Excel modeling!).

Like many other specialized consulting firms, Cornerstone Research is not the natural place to go if you love big-picture strategic thinking that will chart the future of an organization. But… there is good news. Your technical skills (and market research, and financial modeling abilities) will be world-class after you’ve worked at Cornerstone Research!

If you’re looking to move on to a more prestigious firm (or just general management consulting) after a little while, Cornerstone is great for specific industries (if you’ve focused on healthcare cases, you’ll understand that industry).

However, there are better launching pads to be found. Moving from economic consulting to a more broad-based focus may be a bit tricky, as you have superior experience in one particular facet, but minimal experience in others – and no experience in actual operational changes that are the bread and butter of most major consulting firms. This will make it difficult to sell yourself for projects that require a different skill set.

Our recommendation? If you really want to move to more general management consulting, consider taking two or three pro bono consulting projects on the side to gain experience – or consider internships or time post-Cornerstone to really build a first-hand understanding of internal operations at a global, brand-name firm.

However, if economic consulting is your jam, there are not many better places to go than Cornerstone Research. The firm pays extremely well, does impactful work, and employees rave about the great company culture and the smarts of their co-workers. In addition, the collegial nature (and relatively small team) means Managers trust you with more responsibilities after you’ve proved yourself, and will give you greater client and expert exposure.

Cornerstone Research Career Path

Typically, undergrads will come in at the Analyst level, while postgraduate students enter at the Associate level. The firm also regulars brings in working professionals (i.e., experienced hires). It is worth noting that many of the firm’s entry-level consulting hires are undergraduates, some of whom choose to pursue a graduate degree after several years of building experience at the firm. For those who elect not to attend graduate school, there are opportunities to rise to the level of Research Associate and beyond.

As an Analyst at Cornerstone Research, you will be responsible for preparing an expert witness for court, conducting and then submitting analyses to the court, and developing case strategy. Your team will include other Analysts, an industry expert, and a Senior Consultant. Expect to be a member of multiple teams at the same time – this is a sharp departure from the 1 project rule at more traditional strategy firms.

If you want to move up to Senior Consultant, expect to be in the Analyst position for 3-5 years. After another 2-3 years as Senior Consultant, you’ll usually have the option to move up to Manager. As a Senior Consultant, you will already be given the responsibility of helping to oversee teams to prepare you for a possible role as Manager.

  • More information about the Analyst program is available here.
  • More information about the Associate program is available here.

Cornerstone Research Exit Opportunities

Though they may not be in to traditional management consulting, exit opportunities from Cornerstone Research are still plentiful.

After gaining experience across a variety of cases and analytical approaches, many Analysts decide to attend graduate school. The firm has a program in place to help employees prepare their applications; many are accepted to leading U.S. and international institutions focusing on business, finance, economics, and law. After graduate study, many former Analysts opt to rejoin Cornerstone Research as Associates and enjoy long-term career opportunities at the firm, supported by substantial investments in their professional development and rewarded through a competitive compensation structure.

Cornerstone Research is a well-respected name in the field of economic consulting, and top graduate programs as well as firms in the realms of finance, law and economics see it as good training and proving ground for young professionals they are considering hiring.

In fact, a vast majority of employees that decide to attend graduate school end up attending a top 10 school in the field of their choice (as ranked by U.S. News and World Report) – it’s just that MBAs aren’t the primary focus, and therefore roles that are less academic and more practical may be harder to come by.

Looking to chart the next steps of your career? Schedule a 1-hour coaching call with us to get pointed in the right direction.

Cornerstone Research Internships

The firm’s 8-week internship program offers a first-hand experience of what a career in economic consulting looks like. The program starts with a 3-day orientation that provides the knowledge and skillset to hit the ground running. Summer analyst roles closely mirror those of full-time analysts and staff work in case teams that range in size but typically include a faculty expert, senior consultants, and analysts.

You can make important contributions within a case team during all project phases – from developing case strategy, conducting analyses, to preparing experts for testimony. In addition, you’ll have the opportunity to engage in leadership and professional training, panels, and team building activities.

Intern pay and training are above-average compared to what you will find at many other consulting firms, and prior interns have found it a good foot in the door for landing permanent positions. For a Summer Analyst position, you can expect to be paid an average of over $5K a month.

CORNERSTONE RESEARCH CULTURE

Current and former employees rave about the supportive and collaborative culture Cornerstone Research has built over the past 30 years. Those who leave don’t do so because of a beef with the firm, but to pursue new and different opportunities. The firm hires smart, motivated people who are more quantitative in skill-set even more than your traditional consulting firm hires. With over 900 employees firm-wide, Cornerstone Research has managed to build a tight-knit culture where employees genuinely like the people they work with.

Ongoing training and skills development is a big point of emphasis for Cornerstone Research, and a big reason why employees consistently rate the firm a great place to work. The company’s programs include annual, tenure-based training, diverse resources for building additional skills, brown bag lunch sessions on various topics, and a strong mentoring system.

While Cornerstone Research emphasizes investment in employees and a supportive culture, many employees talk about the poor work/life balance at the firm. Clients are demanding, cases are time-sensitive, and deadlines can change unexpectedly, so it is not uncommon to be at the office until 11pm and work weekends as well. If you are applying for a position at Cornerstone Research, you should know that this is just what comes with the territory. Hours can also be hard to predict simply because of the nature of the legal system. However, many employees also believe this is partly due to poor case management.

If you aren’t careful, you can get stuck working the same type of cases over and over again simply because you have the experience already. It is up to you to speak up and ask for different types of cases from the advisor with whom you will be paired to chart your professional path. Challenge yourself to broaden your expertise by asking to work on a variety of cases. Most matters are staffed across offices, so there is ample opportunity to build connections and experience in different offices and practice areas.

CORNERSTONE RESEARCH INTERVIEWS

Now to the section you’ve all been waiting for…the interview process! Cornerstone Research has two rounds of interviews: a virtual one-hour first round and a multi-hour final round, either in one of the firm’s offices or virtually.

An important part of each round is the case interview. You will be presented a different case at each round to review and discuss.

  • First Round: Your first round will consist of two 30-minute virtual interviews. Interview components include a discussion of personal background, interests, and goals, behavioral and situational questions, a case, and time for Q&A.
  • Final Round: Your final round will consist of four 45-minute interviews. Similar to the first round, interview components include a discussion of personal background, interests, and goals, behavioral and situational questions, a case, and time for Q&A. You will additionally have a lunch or informal virtual chat with Cornerstone Research staff.

Nervous about your case and behavioral interview chances? Check out our interview prep options to get a leg up on the competition!

Cornerstone Research Target Schools

  1. Brown University
  2. Duke University
  3. London School of Economics and Political Science
  4. Massachusetts Institute of Technology – Sloan School of Management
  5. Northwestern University
  6. Northwestern University – Kellogg School of Management
  7. Stanford University
  8. University of California, Berkeley
  9. University of Chicago
  10. University of North Carolina

Accolades

Cornerstone Research has been rated highly in a number of different categories. Recent accolades include:

  • Forbes Magazine List of America’s Best Consulting firms: 2023  2022  2021
  • Top 20 of Best Consulting Firms (Vault, 2023)
  • Top 15 of Best Consulting Internship Programs (Vault, 2023)
  • Top 20 of Best Consulting Firms (Vault, 2022)
  • Top 20 of Best Consulting Firms (Vault, 2021)
  • Top 20 of Best Consulting Internship Programs (Vault, 2021)
  • #2 for Best Consulting Firms for Compensation
  • #5 for Best Consulting Firms for Economic Consulting

CORNERSTONE RESEARCH LINKS

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Filed Under: Consulting Firms