The Luka at Work Blog #12

WELCOME

to the Luka at Work blog! Changing gears for this post, we’re going to put a pin in the life and travel updates and circle back to those in a future blog post. Today I’m reflecting on what I do in my first job in the corporate world. Here we go!

The hardest working quad absolutely locked in

Intro

As mentioned in The Luka in Singapore Blog #4, I accepted a job in October 2022 as an Analyst at Cornerstone Research in the DC office. I started working in September 2023, and with the blink of an eye, it’s now been a year and a half since then. Here’s an overview of what I do and what I like about it.

My office building

Nice lobby

What I do

Cornerstone is an economic litigation consulting firm. That means we consult on lawsuits about economic or financial disputes. For example, we supported the DOJ in their suit to block the merger between JetBlue and Spirit on the grounds that it was anti-competitive and would harm consumers. We also supported Twitter in their litigation against Elon Musk who agreed to buy Twitter then changed his mind until two months of litigation later when he again agreed to purchase under the original terms. I personally didn’t work on either of these cases (most of the work we do is confidential active litigation), but you get the idea. We work on antitrust cases, securities and crypto litigation, intellectual property, valuation, consumer fraud, product liability, and a whole host of other practice areas. 

The way this looks in practice is that the end client involved in the litigation hires a law firm to represent them, who then hires us to analyze the data and provide economic expertise. We do that by supporting an expert witness, typically a professor or established industry expert, in writing a report arguing their position with data-driven arguments. That expert will then provide deposition testimony that is examined in court alongside the report to come to a decision or reach a settlement. 

TLDR: we do math for lawyers.

First day of work!

What I like about the job

1. The content

I find the work fascinating. We work for high-profile clients in high-profile litigation which I read about in the newspaper. I get to apply concepts I learned in my economics and statistics classes. My day-to-day involves programming in R and SQL, analyzing and visualizing large datasets, formatting charts and tables in Excel, reviewing legal documents, etc. In practice, it’s not always as glamorous as it sounds, but I generally find it quite interesting and never find myself bored at work. Unlike a typical consulting role, we don’t travel for work (besides recruiting), and I have no client interaction. The “client” work I do is occasionally meeting with the expert witness to walk them through analyses in preparation for deposition, or sitting in to listen to calls with counsel.

Working from home back in Bethesda

2. The people

It's cliche, but my favorite part of the job is the people I work with. I started with a class of ~15 analysts, also recent college grads from around the country and the world, some of whom quickly became close friends of mine. There are around 50 analysts in the DC office, typically between the ages of 22 and 26. The rest of the office is made up of ~60 other employees at different stages of their careers, from their late 20s to near retirement age. 

Celebrating Blazer Wednesday - a monthly tradition I started with Alex and TJ

Blazers of CRDC

The office is extremely social: we have frequent happy hours, catered Monday and Friday lunches, soccer/basketball/golf/softball teams, a biannual office ping pong tournament that a friend and I organize, GeoGuessr and Smash Bros tournaments, offsite events like local sports games, picnics, and a holiday party. Among the analysts, we organize annual ski and beach trips, and groups of us often invite each other to house parties and get-togethers outside of work. We all sit together in quads and bays of desks and chat throughout the day at work. We have a hybrid system that requires us to work in person only 2.5 days per week on average, but like many of the analysts, I tend to come in 4-5 days a week because it’s fun to see people and easier to work in person. While it's certainly influenced by the fact that I spend the majority of my waking hours at the office, it’s become an important part of my social life.

Captain of the CR soccer team

I placed top 4 in the office GeoGuessr tournament!

Analyst ski trip in the Poconos, Pennsylvania

Office trip to the Capitals Game

French wine tasting happy hour

Floral Friday

Steele

3. Job security and compensation

We have very good job security. Especially in light of the DOGE layoffs that have been tearing through the government, it’s easy to take for granted how safe my job is. In fact we’ve been hiring plenty of former government employees from the FTC/SEC/DOJ etc. that were doge-ed. What they say about litigation is that in good times and in bad times, people are always suing. 

The other piece is the compensation. The job is very demanding, but we get paid well for it. That’s what we signed up for. Plus, there are lots of little perks that make it much more bearable. For example, lunch on Mondays and Fridays, bagels on Tuesdays, $35 dinner budget when you work past 8pm, a monthly fitness/wellness stipend, commute/parking subsidy, and plenty of sporadic meals, events, sports games, happy hours, and more.

Boat cruise down the Potomac featuring lunch, an open bar, and time off work.
Corporate perks are quite nice

2023 Holiday Party

Anniversary lunch

4. The Ping Pong Table

If I’m ever in charge of a company, my first initiative will be buying an office ping pong table. I love it. I try to play at least one game most days I’m in the office. Typically, these are just casual games with coworkers to have a brain break, but we also run a biannual tournament, both singles and doubles, consisting of about 30 people each. We assign seeds based on people’s abilities, randomize a group stage, then play a single elimination bracket. My deskmate Alex and I organized the most recent tournament. 

Me and Alex grinding Ping Pong at night

For the finals, we host a watch party/happy hour for the office, and we project the live score on TVs. After two quarterfinal defeats in prior tournaments, I’m proud to say I was crowned the office champion in the most recent tournament, taking down the defending champion who knocked me out in the past.

Latest singles champion 🙏

Singles and doubles playoff brackets from last tournament

Sam and I playing in the final

Alex and I made consecutive appearances in the doubles finals, but unfortunately, we couldn’t get the job done. But aside from the heartbreak, glory, and thrill of competing in a tournament, I think the ping pong table is great for my well-being, productivity, and for fostering connections. It gets me moving, and I feel refreshed and focused after playing. Playing with coworkers helps me get to know people I don’t usually interact with, including managers and officers. 

Practicing our forehand

Conclusion

Having said all this, it's important to acknowledge that it's not all cupcakes and rainbows. I work a lot. The hours are volatile, and I'm expected to be available when urgent work arises. That's what's demanded of consultants like us in a client-based industry. We bill our time in six-minute increments, and our billing is tracked relative to a utilization target, which can be stressful. The work is fast-paced and high-stakes, which is simultaneously exciting and exhausting. 

The grind never stops

Taking an eyes break

I may complain, but I wouldn’t have picked anything different for my first job after graduation. Who knows where my career will take me next. I’ve been flirting with the idea of law school or business school, but I don’t want to rush into that without a clear idea of what I want. Perhaps I’ll spend time living abroad to get a fresh perspective and try something new. But for now, I’m settled and satisfied where I am. It’s exciting to have a big future ahead! Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you next time.

Cornerstone merch in Times Square with little bro