Life Beyond Brattle

Before Brattle

I studied math and economics at the University of Chicago. While in school, I was active in music performance through the piano program and the wind ensemble. I also worked on campus, first as a math TA and later as a research assistant for a finance professor.

I was drawn to Brattle and the research analyst role because it is the kind of position that uses quantitative analysis in the context of economics. What led me to joining the firm was my interest in many areas of economics, and working at Brattle promised to give me the chance to work on different kinds of cases, without having to specialize from the start. Of course, it didn’t hurt that the job would be in a fantastic city like San Francisco!

At Brattle

I joined Brattle as a summer research analyst intern in 2013 before starting as a full time RA in 2014. A significant project I worked on as an RA was writing and managing R scripts that prepare a large amount of data for an interesting discrete choice model. The data posed some particularly interesting puzzles at times, but the most rewarding part of the project was the chance to work with some of the leading experts in discrete choice econometrics.

Brattle has an open and collegial atmosphere that makes it easy to learn from other RAs, associates, and principals. The people at Brattle have an impressive knowledge of tools, techniques, and data sources, and they are all willing to share that knowledge. I’ve learned a great deal from informal interactions with people at all levels of the firm.

After Brattle

I left Brattle to pursue a Ph.D. in Business Economics at Harvard University. Through my work at Brattle, I learned the value of using rigorous economics and careful data analysis to answer real-world problems, and a few particularly exciting cases sparked an interest in the field of industrial organization. In these cases, I worked with economists who encouraged my interests, sent me papers to read, and gave me valuable advice. Their help, and a recommendation letter from a Brattle principal, were indispensable when I applied to Ph.D. programs in economics. In addition, the questions that arose in Brattle cases have given me research ideas. My goal is to bring the same combination of rigor and practicality that I learned at Brattle to my future economics research.

Before Brattle

I studied Math and Economics at Hamilton College. While at school I played on the varsity volleyball team, acted as Projects Manager for the Hamilton Association for Volunteering Outreach and Charity, and participated in intramural soccer. In addition, I worked as a research assistant for the Department of Economics and helped to redesign the on-campus student employment process as the Director of Student Employment.

I applied to Brattle after working for two years in management consulting. I found that I was looking for more analytical, rigorous, and intellectually-challenging work. After having the opportunity to speak with some RAs at Brattle, I thought it sounded like a good fit both culturally and intellectually. The work at Brattle offered an opportunity to apply my quantitative and economic skills to real world problems.

I accepted my RA offer because I was blown away by Brattle’s culture, my new colleagues, and the promise of a challenge. I was extremely impressed by how intelligent, humorous, and hard working the individuals I met with were. It quickly became clear to me that Brattle was a place where I could challenge my mind, learn from extremely smart people, and make strong friendships. The culture was exactly what I had been looking for.

At Brattle

I worked on numerous projects during my time at Brattle in many industries including telecommunications, energy, transportation, finance, and mining. For these projects, I conducted rigorous quantitative and economic analyses, developed dynamic models, learned about industries, and wrote sections of expert reports. I had the opportunity to interact with and present findings to clients and regulators including the Commissioners at the Federal Communications Commission. I was also fortunate enough to attend cool talks by well-known economists and regulators, socialize with clients at the DC office’s annual holiday reception, and learn from my colleagues.

The best thing about Brattle is the culture. It is a place that I associate with smart people, hard work, innovation, and good times. RAs are respected and given an incredible amount of responsibility and ownership over their work. I feel like I was constantly faced with new and intriguing challenges as principals and associates incorporate RAs into both the project strategy and the implementation. I was originally surprised by how excited and committed the principals were to their work and how open they were to ideas, questions, and input from RAs.

After Brattle

I left Brattle to pursue an MBA at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. My experiences at Brattle were extremely beneficial with verifying my desire to go to business school, strengthening my application, and preparing me for the experience. At Brattle I was exposed to a wide variety of projects and analyses, which helped me to confirm my interest in finance and develop a strong background in financial concepts and analyses. In addition, I had the opportunity to take on many roles, which allowed me to develop as a leader – an extremely important topic to be able to discuss in business school interviews! I was overwhelmed and grateful by the amount of support I received from everyone at Brattle. My colleagues and mentors helped by writing my recommendations, offering advice, and celebrating acceptances. I plan to move into the financial services industry after completing my MBA.

Before Brattle

I graduated from the University of Chicago in 2015 with a degree in economics. While I was at school, I was a member of the ultimate frisbee team, and also spent a quarter studying abroad in Rome. I also worked as an RA for Professor Steve Davis at Chicago’s Booth School of Business with his work on policy uncertainty and global financial markets.

I initially learned about Brattle while I was looking for a summer internship position. I wanted to work in a fast-paced environment, but still do rigorous quantitatively-focused work. A friend recommended economic consulting to me, and I started researching the industry. Brattle was among the first consulting firms I found, and I remember seeing on the website the phrase “The Power of Economics.” That really sums up why I’m interested in economics: I think it is a very powerful and useful way to understand the world and how decisions are made. Seeing that really drew me to Brattle, and I wanted to work for a company that actually used economic theory and methods in real situations.

At Brattle

I was really drawn to the people when choosing to work at Brattle. They are all incredibly smart and hardworking, but also so open to helping everyone, including interns. Even as an intern I worked directly with principals and they were always open to questions or thoughts about the project, and let me pick their brains about grad school or my future career. I realized that Brattle employees, from the RAs to the principals, were the kind of people I would want to hang out with outside of work – smart, honest, friendly, and fun – and together they made a great working environment. After working at Brattle for a summer, I realized that the people here would challenge me and help me to grow, and I would learn a lot from working here.

My experience as an intern has been very similar to the RA role. On one project as an intern, I actually got to take a leading role where I analyzed all of the data we received and created several charts that ended up in the report. I’ve had the opportunity to work on many different projects, exposing me to a variety of cases and people early on. Right after I started full-time, I got put on a case that I had worked on as an intern, for which we were now doing the rebuttal report. The associate I was working with allowed me to put most of the report together based on our prior work and add my own comments and suggestions. I am honored to be trusted with so much responsibility and leadership so early in my tenure at Brattle.

The variety of work I’ve undertaken has surprised me. In particular I was surprised by the amount of qualitative work I’ve done – it’s not all been quantitative. A Brattle RA has to be flexible, curious, and well-rounded, and tasks can range from using R or Stata to conduct complex econometric analysis, to reading and reviewing client documents or public sources for information to use in the report. Even within a certain subject area, there’s many different ways to approach a problem, and I never feel like I’m doing the same thing twice.

After Brattle

Right now, I am planning to pursue a Ph.D. in economics, and eventually work in research or public policy. I believe my time at Brattle will challenge me and expose me to real problems in the world, and give me valuable private-sector experience. It will also sharpen my research and modeling skills, which will be useful in any quantitative Ph.D. program. I’m also open to a more private-sector career path, and I hope that working at Brattle will guide me towards the right path.

Before Brattle

I graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 2011 with a degree in Economics and International Studies. While in college, I was involved in a number of volunteer organizations, the most important to me being a program in which Hopkins students tutor Baltimore elementary students in math and reading. I was also a member of the Hopkins parliamentary debate team and traveled around schools on the East Coast competing.

Coming out of undergrad, I was leaning towards graduate school for economics, but I knew I wanted some work experience as well as a break from school before pursuing a graduate degree. I felt my undergrad experience lacked a bit of hands-on research in economics, and I thought the best way to know if I want to become an economist is to work alongside economists. Brattle offered all of these things.

The variety of the work at Brattle really motivated me to join the firm, but in the end, the deciding factors were both the people and the culture. Other firms do similar types of work, but I found Brattle to be a particularly unique work environment. Throughout the interviewing process, I was able to meet with a range of Brattle consultants and was really impressed by how bright and passionate, yet friendly, everyone was. The people at Brattle work here because they love what they do and want to work with, learn from, and teach others. It creates an extremely intellectually engaging and supportive environment.

At Brattle

While at Brattle, I worked primarily in our competition practice, focusing on antitrust litigation support and advisory papers for proposed mergers, joint ventures, and acquisitions in concentrated industries. On these projects, I had the opportunity to conduct extensive industry research and work with data from both private parties and public data sources. Outside of my project work, I was actively involved in Brattle’s recruiting, training, and office happy hours.

Working closely with associates and principals on my projects was one of the best parts of my time at Brattle. Everyone is extremely accessible and willing to give RAs a lot of responsibility on projects. This attitude spreads beyond the project teams and makes Brattle a place where everyone is extremely approachable.

After Brattle

Working at Brattle confirmed my interests in industrial organization and my desire to pursue a Ph.D. in economics. As an RA, I worked with people with a variety of educational backgrounds and specialties, and everyone was very helpful in terms of giving advice for my future career. Without my experience at Brattle, I doubt I would have been as prepared for the application process or been accepted to the programs I was. I owe a lot to my former coworkers, and am very grateful for the help Brattle gave me for the next step of my career. I’m currently pursuing a Ph.D. in economics, with a focus on industrial organization, at Cornell University.

Before Brattle

I graduated from Binghamton University in 2013 with a degree in financial economics. I stayed active in my department as a tutor and an undergraduate research assistant. I was also Vice President of Membership for Alpha Kappa Psi, a professional business fraternity on campus.

During my senior year, I wrote an honors thesis that involved a regression analysis of a U.S. dietary survey. The analysis was inspired by work that I had done as a Brattle research analyst intern. It involved a large-scale dataset, which would not have been possible to clean and analyze without the technical skills I gained during my internship.

I decided to return to Brattle as a full-time research analyst because I could not imagine a better job right out of college. The project work is challenging, often requiring a pen and paper to work problems out. Colleagues are approachable, and happen to be excellent mentors and leaders in their respective fields. I wasn’t yet sure about graduate school, but knew that Brattle was a great place to be in the meantime.

At Brattle

I was fortunate to work on many diverse projects at Brattle. I mainly supported expert witnesses in litigation and regulatory matters in the electric power, agriculture, and telecommunications industries. No two cases were the same, but they all required a mix of quantitative and qualitative skills. I gained extensive experience in data collection, statistical modeling, economic research, and report writing.

Outside of client work, I continued to research health and nutrition with a few coworkers as a business development activity. We identified trends in diet and obesity over the past 50 years, and eventually published our findings in the peer-reviewed journal, Nutrition.

There were plenty of opportunities to get involved to give back to the firm. I was an Excel teaching assistant for new analysts, served as co-editor of the firm’s internal website, “BHive”, and, most importantly, won the 2015 doubles foosball championship. The firm culture is by far the best part about working at Brattle, and is what sets it apart from other organizations.

After Brattle

After working at Brattle for nearly 3 years, I decided to pursue a career in epidemiology. I am currently working as a research coordinator for a diabetes prevention study at Stanford University’s School of Medicine, and plan to apply to Ph.D. programs next fall. Nutrition and diabetes research may seem far removed from economic consulting, but all of the skills I learned at Brattle have proved to be extremely useful. Brattle not only helped me discover my passion, but it gave me the tools to get there.

Before Brattle

I studied at Middlebury College, where I was double majored in economics and political science. While in school, I worked as a research assistant for the political science department. I also played on the club hockey team.

At Brattle

The summer before my senior year at Middlebury, I joined Brattle as a research analyst intern in the energy and utilities practice. Prior to then, I had very limited exposure to the energy industry, but within a few days at Brattle I was totally immersed. Throughout my internship, I had the opportunity to join project teams and help our clients address questions across a variety of topics in the energy industry, including wholesale power and natural gas markets. As a member of these project teams, I was able to learn about the energy industry from some of the leading experts in the field, which made my work that summer extremely engaging. In addition to the valuable industry experience I gained, my internship helped me build my analytical and communication skills, and I was then able to leverage those skills in my classwork back at Middlebury.

When I returned to Brattle as a full-time research analyst, I continued to work on projects covering topics across the energy industry including renewable energy development, wholesale electricity market design, and asset valuations. These projects were for both private and public sector clients and occurred in various arenas ranging from commercial arbitration to public regulatory proceedings. Despite the variety in project work, the core cultural aspects of my time at Brattle—specifically the project team dynamic—have remained constant. I always found it incredibly valuable to work directly with principals and associates whose expertise in the energy industry and client services is extensive.The knowledge and skills I acquired as a result of these interactions have undoubtedly served me well in my time after Brattle.

After Brattle

I am currently pursuing my MBA at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.

Before Brattle

I graduated from Dartmouth College in 2012, majoring in economics and philosophy. I was also heavily involved in non-profit business development and applied microeconomic research. I was interested in a career in statistics or economics, but wanted to get practical work experience under my belt before applying to graduate school.

My first year out of college I worked as an Investment Associate at Bridgewater Associates, a large hedge fund doing macroeconomic research. Although I enjoyed the work, I wanted to work on a wider range of applied economic issues and quantitative methods. This led me to economic consulting.

Brattle stood out for three reasons. First, it offered topical variety – within a year at Brattle, I worked on smart grid issues, bankruptcy litigation, forecasting, dynamic pricing, and market manipulation cases, each with its own economic implications and statistical challenges. Second, I was impressed by the humility and intelligence of everyone I met. Research analysts were given lots of responsibility and worked directly alongside principals and even testifying experts. Lastly, everyone at Brattle was enthusiastic about technology and constantly adopted new methods and languages. Brattle looked like the perfect place for me to develop my conceptual and technical abilities.

At Brattle

My work at Brattle was stimulating and wonderfully educational. I particularly enjoyed a project that involved an evaluation of an energy demand response experiment, which allowed me to be involved in the analytical implementation and the client-facing portions of the project. On another project, I worked with the case team to develop damage theories and simulations for an unusual form of financial manipulation. Our initial analysis narrowed the range of legal arguments that our client could use to support their case.

My coworkers at Brattle were (and still are!) friends who care and colleagues who challenge my thinking. For instance, I started out at Brattle with little programming experience, but my “buddy” spent countless hours sitting next to me showing me the basics and mentoring me through the process. I am now a proficient and enthusiastic programmer. On top of that, my supervisors looked out for me by involving me in projects that suit my interests, and I also had the opportunity to co-write papers and articles with them.

After Brattle

Brattle turned out to be fantastic preparation for my current role in Business Analytics at a Fortune 100 company. First, I gained a strong technical foundation and intuition for data analysis, having analyzed a wide variety of data sources. I also learned how to tell stories and structure arguments starting from raw data. Second, Brattle gave me the confidence to lead without formal authority. I had many opportunities to mentor junior RAs on projects and present in front of principals and clients. Lastly, the high caliber of Brattle’s consultants and the exacting nature of economic consulting have made me more open to competing ideas and the importance of being humble. These skills have served me very well in my current role, and I am grateful for the opportunity to have worked at Brattle.