Testimonials

I have been very pleased that Northern Trust has been able to participate in the University of Chicago Corporate Lab. The students are uniformly highly qualified and motivated and their assistance has been invaluable to our work.

It makes perfect sense that there would be a high demand for what the lab is doing – acting as a law school clinic that services for-profit corporations – as most law students at top schools go on to work in the private section, with similar corporate clients.

To give the students a jumpstart on their client development skills, and to provide them with similar substantive work to that which they will be assigned as associates at law firms, all the while receiving high quality work to less our legal department’s load, is a true win-win situation.

The lab students have been critical to the project on which they are working, and everyone on my staff who has encountered them – either on the phone, at lunch, or during one of their meetings in our office – has found them to be a professional delight.

- James Roselle, Associate General Counsel, Northern Trust Corporation


Having personally observed the excellent work produced by the very talented and passionate collection of law students at the Chicago Corporate Lab, I am now questioning why I did not meet this group much sooner in my career. The students, who have showcased their skills from Day One by pitching their group to me with a presentation, are professional, bright, and engaging.

The relationship has been a true two-way street in terms of value-add: The students have received invaluable “real world” work experience from numerous members of Accenture’s legal department, while Accenture has received high-quality work product, on par with that which we would receive from junior associates at the law firms with whom we work.

I wish that I could give more work to the lab, as the students, who are some of the top legal minds in the country, are a genuine pleasure to work with. From my vantage point, the experience for the students has clearly paid off; they appear wise beyond their years.

- Joel Stern, Deputy General Counsel, Accenture


Microsoft has been working with Chicago’s Corporate Lab for the past three years, and I plan to participate in the program for years to come. While the Lab began as a way to teach law students more practical transactional skills, such as negotiation and contract analysis, the relationship has developed into the kind of collaborative connection that I have with top practitioners in the field.

One of the most refreshing aspects of the lab is the continuity of the students, many of whom remain for a full year or longer. It has been remarkable to watch the students’ contract drafting and interpretation skills progress, and I am confident that these students will outperform their peers upon entering firms after graduation.

I truly wish that there had been a program such as this lab while I was in law school, but I am happy to function on this end of the spectrum, being the recipient of such great students and legal work.

- Michel Gahard, General Manager, Microsoft Corporation