Economic Consulting: Brattle Group Vs. Cornerstone Vs. CRA Vs. NERA

Hi,

I'd like to know your opinions on these firms. I currently have an offer for Analyst level positions at 1-3 of the above firms and am waiting to hear back from the remaining firm(s). I know there are a handful of people on this board that have worked in the industry, so if you've worked in econ consulting or know the industry well for some other reason I'd love to hear your opinion. So this isn't totally one-sided, I'll list what I see as the pros and cons of each firm:

Brattle Group
Pros: Small company (more interaction between analysts and principals), I really liked the people I met when I interviewed there, heard very positive reviews from ex-employees
Cons: Small company (less name recognition --> worse exit opportunities?), from what I have read on the internet they may be second tier in terms of prestige compared with the other three firms

Cornerstone
Pros: Known for having great corporate culture, best pay in the industry, the people I met with had the most impressive backgrounds of all the firms and were also very nice, analysts are generalists unlike the other firms where you are assigned to a practice area
Cons: May be less prestigious than NERA/CRA (how much of a difference is there?), I've heard they work longer hours at Cornerstone than some of the others.

CRA
Pros: Right up there with NERA in terms of prestige
Cons: I've heard not so great things from alums who worked there, the firm didn't stand out to me very much compared to the others I interviewed at

NERA
Pros: Seems to be the most prestigious of the econ consulting firms, the hours seem pretty good compared to others in the industry
Cons: Have heard not so great things about the analyst experience at NERA, specifically, little focus on professional development, little to no interaction with VPs and up, work given to research associates is more tedious and dull than at competitors

Hopefully that info can help others going through recruiting in addition to giving you a sense of what I'm thinking. This all leads me to think that in terms of prestige/career development the order, from best to worst, would be NERA, CRA, Cornerstone, Brattle, but in terms of quality of life the order would be Brattle and Cornerstone (tie), NERA, CRA. Overall, I don't really have a clue how to rank the firms. I'd love to hear any advice or info about some/all of these firms.

If you had offers at all four, how would you rank them and why?

 
Best Response

It's a tossup between Cornerstone/CRA/NERA. I know little about Brattle Group... but if the boutique setting is your thing and you like the people you interviewed with, by all means.

The reason I say it's a tossup is this:

1) You will be doing similar work at 3 companies. The nature of litigation consulting at the lower level is that you may be doing some dull work... you also do some more exciting, analytical work. You'll be exposed to both sides of the coin at all of the aforementioned firms.

2) Not sure why prestige is or should be an issue. First, not a lot of people know what economic consulting is, and second, not a lot of people know the top players in economic consulting. Pretty much the "prestige" universe is economic consultants and perhaps some law firms -- I suspect the latter is much more relational. That being said, I'd say CRA = NERA = AG = Cornerstone

I suggest you make your decision based on what you thought of the folks and what they had to say when you go in for final rounds.

 

I have worked in this industry before and know people at all of the firms you've listed. The work at all of these places is more or less the same. Prestige is a non-issue since so few people know what litigation consulting is, and all have good Bschool placement.

Don't make this decision based on what people's perceptions online are. MAke the decision based on:

a.) practice area -- did you get hired into different practices at each firm? What sort of work would you like to do?

b.) salary / projected bonus

c.) your gut instinct based on the people you met with.

My vote is for Cornerstone since (I've heard) that they're the pay-setters in the industry and that the corporate culture is good, but that's just my 2 cents.

FWIW, the most impressive person I've met in this field (at the junior level) in terms of academic background worked at Brattle.

 

Cornerstone pays best? Interesting. If you don't mind me asking, what are they offering?

If securities aren't your cup of tea, AG is the place to go. We do securities, sure. But, given how the firm is organized, it's very easy for Analysts to jump from area to area.

 

I don't think the differences are as huge as are often made out to be. I think what really matters is which experts/VP's you end up supporting, as some will really show an interest in developing you professionally while others are going to use you as modelling monkeys. I agree that Cornerstone pays at the top of the range for the major firms you mentioned, but be aware that there are some smaller boutiques that will pay meaningfully better. My first job out of undergrad was at Charles River Associates, and I generally think it was a pretty good experience, but among the offers you mentioned I'd lean towards Cornerstone or AG. CRA has had a lot of top experts lift out of the firm the last few years and I think culture has suffered.

Congrats!

 

Thanks!

Yeah basically everyone has told me that CRA's culture has been on the downswing as of late. In your experience, does the area of your work (antritrust vs. finance vs. healthcare etc.) alter your day-to-day experience? The Cornerstone office I have an offer for is very finance heavy, which is not my forte (I have literally 0 finance experience) or interest. That being said, I'm still leaning towards Cornerstone for culture reasons. I just need to know if the finance work is really substantively different than antitrust work before I pull the trigger. My sense is that day-to-day you're still just cleaning datasets, doing lit reviews, etc. so the subject area isn't very important.

 

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