Departments: Corporate

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The Corporate Department is the largest department in the firm, with more than 400 lawyers and other professionals focusing on business law. Our clients range from start-up ventures to Fortune 500 companies; from community medical centers and local school districts to world-renowned hospitals and universities; and from individual investors to nationally known investment funds that manage billions of dollars. To help you understand our practice, we present below the answers to Frequently Asked Questions.

FAQs
What do we do?
How are we organized?
Do corporate lawyers belong to more than one practice group?
How do first-year associates choose practice groups?
Are associates required to rotate through practice groups?
How are work assignments distributed?
How are work assignments allocated among different offices?
Do associates have an opportunity to work with different partners?
How much partner contact and client contact will I have as a first-year associate?
What is the range of projects I can expect in my first year?
How do you make sure that I won't get "lost in the shuffle" in such a big department?
What sort of formal training will I get to supplement the courses I took in law school?
Can you give me a sense of what I would actually do as a corporate associate?

What do we do?
Among other things, we help our clients borrow money, issue stock, merge and acquire businesses, contract with suppliers and customers, bring products to market, protect intellectual property, and achieve regulatory compliance. In serving our clients, we regularly counsel chief executives and boards of directors, and we work hand in hand with internal counsel.

We advise a broad array of leveraged buyout and venture capital firms on their acquisitions and investments, such as the $1 billion dividend recapitalization of Domino's sponsored by our client Bain Capital, Inc. Thanks to our investment management clients, our investment company practice regularly receives top rankings from industry sources such as The American Lawyer’s annual Corporate Scorecard survey and Lipper, a supplier of mutual fund data and analysis.

How are we organized?
The Corporate Department is headed by two partners (one of whom coordinates associate work assignments as a primary part of his responsibilities) and is divided into twelve practice groups. Descriptions of each of these practice groups can be accessed by clicking on the links shown below.

Debt Financing
Health Care
Intellectual Property & Rights Management
International
Investment Management
Life Sciences
Private Equity
Private Investment Funds
Real Estate
Securities & Public Companies
Sports Law
Technology Companies

The heads of Ropes & Gray's Corporate Department: Cary Armistead, based in our Boston office and Merrill Ulmer based in the New York office.

Do corporate lawyers belong to more than one practice group?
While there is no requirement of multi-group membership, most lawyers in the department do practice in more than one practice group. In particular, we encourage junior lawyers to develop a broad base of knowledge by taking assignments from a variety of practice groups, and to resist the urge to specialize at an early stage in their careers. After they have been practicing for two years, associates are asked to focus on a narrower set of practice groups.

Corporate associates Pam Hanson (University of Virginia School of Law '02) and Pallavi Rohatgi (2002, Bachelor of Laws, Indian Law Society’s Law College, Pune, India; 2005, LL.M., The University of Michigan Law School) work in our New York office and work in more than one area. While both work in our Debt Financing practice group, Pam also works on Private Equity Transactions, while Pallavi also works on venture capital matters for the Technology Companies practice group.

How do first-year associates choose practice groups?
New associates with an interest in corporate practice are actively encouraged to take on assignments in a wide variety of the department's practice groups. As they gain experience, associates begin to develop preferences and specialize in one or two practice group areas.

Anne Claiborne (Harvard Law School '03), top, based in our Washington, D.C. office, and Brad Maxwell (Cornell Law School '04), bottom, based in the Boston office, reflect the flexibility the firm affords first-year associates. Anne worked as a health care analyst before attending law school, and then spent her first year after law school obtaining a Masters degree in public health. Seeking to build on her expertise in that area, she has worked primarily in the Health Care practice group since joining Ropes & Gray in September 2004. Brad, on the other hand, did not join the firm with a definite concentration in mind, but had an interest in the real estate industry. He has sampled a wide variety of corporate work during his first year at the firm, including real estate projects. Many other first-year associates start at Ropes & Gray without any practice group leanings, and sample a variety of projects in their first year. See “What is the range of projects I can expect in my first year” below for a description of the first year of Rebecca Haffajee, based in our Boston office, and Adam Rossetti, based in our New York office.

Are associates required to rotate through practice groups?
No. In contrast to an assignment system that requires junior associates to spend a fixed amount of time working exclusively in one practice group, we have a flexible assignment system that allows associates to work on projects from several different practice groups at the same time. Moreover, we do not require associates to work in any particular practice group.

Marc Biamonte (Boston College Law School '02), left, and Sharon Herrick (University of Pennsylvania Law School '03), right, also reflect the flexibility of the firm's assignment system. Mark began his career in the Boston office, and recently transferred to the New York office. He has worked in the Private Equity Transactions and Private Investment Funds Formation practice groups, whereas Sharon, based in our Boston office, has worked primarily in the Health Care practice group.

How are work assignments distributed?
Merrill Ulmer, a partner and one of the heads of the Corporate Department coordinates the general corporate work assignment process. All of the corporate practice groups also assign work to those associates who have self-selected to take on work in a specific practice area. Lisa Wilson, Director of the Corporate Department, coordinates assignments for the junior associates. In distributing work assignments, the department and practice groups try to ensure that each junior associate has an opportunity to work on assignments for a variety of practice groups and that work assignments are spread as evenly as possible among associates.

Merrill Ulmer, the department head in charge of coordinating associate work assignments, with Lisa Wilson, director of the department, who coordinates work assignments to first-year associates interested in corporate work. Merrill is based in the New York office and Lisa is based in the Boston office.

How are work assignments allocated among different offices?
We operate the Corporate Department as a national practice. Although for geographical reasons our preference is to staff a particular project with lawyers from the office that is closest to the location of the client, this is not an absolute rule. Projects are staffed nationally, to balance the levels of activity in different offices. This approach also allows lawyers from different offices to work together and to develop strong professional and personal ties. This approach also helps us achieve our goal of being one firm, rather than a collection of autonomous branch offices. From an associate's perspective, the advantage of this system is that the associate is not limited to working with the partners or clients of a particular office, but can access the resources and clients of the entire firm.

Do associates have an opportunity to work with different partners?
Yes. In contrast to a system where associates work for only one partner, we have a flexible system that enables associates to work on projects for different partners in different practice groups in different cities at the same time. We believe it is important for associates to work with and learn from many different partners because it helps associates in developing their own distinct approach to lawyering.

Leigh Fraser (Harvard Law School '96), a partner based in the Boston office, and Isabel Dische (Yale Law School '04), an associate based in the New York office, frequently work together on analyzing and negotiating derivatives contracts for mutual funds, hedge funds, and institutional investors. Isabel also works with a number of other partners in the Private Investment Funds and Investment Management practice groups.

How much partner contact and client contact will I have as a first-year associate?
A significant amount of both. The Corporate Department has a ratio of roughly two associates to each partner. As a result, most transactions are staffed with one partner and one associate. Except on very large transactions, our associates typically work directly with partners and, when appropriate, will participate in client meetings and on many occasions interface directly with clients. To get a sense of the type of work that junior associates actually do on a corporate project, please review the illustrative transactions for each practice group by clicking on the practice group hyperlinks above.

Through their work in the Investment Management
Group, Jacob Comer (Washington and Lee University School of Law '03), left, and Jessica O'Mary (Boston College Law School '03) had extensive direct client contact during their first three years at the firm: Jacob with various Scudder entities, and Jessica with the Schroder Funds.

What is the range of projects I can expect in my first year?
Because there is no prescribed combination of projects to be assigned to first-year associates who have expressed an interest in the Corporate Department, and because the department strives to accommodate the expressed practice area interests of each corporate-oriented first-year associate, there is a wide variation in the projects that different first-year associates are assigned during their first year. Nonetheless, to give students an idea of the types of projects that they might encounter in their first year, we have listed below the actual projects that two corporate associates worked on during the course of their first year at Ropes & Gray.

Rebecca Haffajee graduated from Harvard Law School in June 2006 and began working in the Boston office in September 2006. For a description of the projects that she worked on in her first year, click here.

Adam Rossetti graduated from the University of Southern California's Gould School of Law in May 2006 and began working in the New York office in September 2006. For a description of the projects he worked on in his first year, click here.

How do you make sure that I won't get "lost in the shuffle" in such a big department?
The Corporate Department understands this concern and has numerous structures in place to ensure that all associates participate meaningfully and successfully in the department's practice. As described above, the department is divided into twelve smaller practice groups that allow for closer and more regular interaction between lawyers. In addition, most matter and client teams consist of just two or three lawyers — one partner and one or two associates. These small teams promote the informal mentoring and practical training that we believe develop talented law students into savvy lawyers.

In addition, the Corporate Department Training Committee has prepared an outline of skills for associates in the first four years of corporate practice. This checklist is intended as a tool to enable associates to develop a broad range of skills and experiences during their early years of practice. Work assignments are made with a view to helping associates develop a broad range of skills in their first four years of practice. Associates are also encouraged to request assignments so as to broaden their skill set, and it is intended that associates will use this checklist to manage their early professional development and make intelligent choices regarding the wide variety of work assignments and practice areas available to them. To view the most current version of this skills outline, click here.

There is no substitute for the learning that comes from informal, partner level mentoring, and the process continues well beyond an associate's first years at the firm. Here, associate Paula Ingram (University of North Carolina School of Law '04) and partner Brian McCabe review issues related to an Investment Management group project involving the merger of mutual funds.

The informal mentoring and training that is generated by our team-based approach is supplemented by three formal support structures. First, each entry-level corporate associate is assigned a "coordinating lawyer" from the department to act as a mentor and a source of work assignments. Second, many entry-level corporate associates receive a "continuing assignment" to a particular client's matters as a means to develop a client relationship from the outset. Third, the firm-wide training program is supplemented by an extensive departmental training program that all new corporate associates attend.

What sort of formal training will I get to supplement the courses I took in law school?
Although important training takes place in practice on a daily basis, the Corporate Department has an elaborate and formal training program designed to help law students become practical and experienced corporate lawyers. Our programs are grouped into five categories:

Introductory Seminars are to be taken by associates in their initial months at the firm. For a description of the Introductory Seminars, click here.
Core Curriculum Seminars are to be taken by corporate associates at some point during their first four years of practice. For a description of the Curriculum Seminars, click here.
Advanced Seminars are offered to associates and partners on various topics from time to time. For a description of the Advanced Curriculum Seminars, click here.
External Training Programs. In addition, as associates become more experienced and begin to specialize to a greater extent, more highly specialized external programs provide useful formal training. Accordingly, mid-level and senior associates are encouraged to look for appropriate opportunities to develop skills by attending external programs.
Technology Training. Technology has become an integral part of the practice of law. For a description of the Technology Training Opportunities, click here
Individualized Training Opportunities. For lawyers who seek additional training, there are a number of available opportunities. The department's current library of corporate training sessions from 2003 to the present are available for review on your computer desktop via streaming video. In addition, lawyers can log on to online seminars and webcasts organized by the Practicing Lawyer's Institute (“PLI”). These classes include both catalog courses that can be viewed at any time that you choose and simulcast courses that you can participate in while they are being conducted.

Can you give me a sense of what I would actually do as a corporate associate?
Of course. We believe that one of the greatest strengths of our corporate department is the prestigious nature of our clients and the exciting projects that we do for them. We have tried to describe these projects from the associate's perspective by asking our associates to describe their role with respect to sample projects from each practice area with the Corporate Department. To access these descriptions, please click on the hyperlink above for the practice area(s) in which you are interested, and then click on the hyperlink for the associate's role on any given project or transaction.