Sean Kramer, '10: Building the Corporate Lab and a Law School Network

After Sean Kramer, ’10, graduated from college, he was not fully certain that he wanted to go to law school. He had excelled in a liberal arts curriculum with a concentration in legal studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and he drew inspiration from his aunt, Maureen Sheehy, ’87, who served as both a role model and a sounding board.

Wanting to be completely sure that law school would be right for him, he worked for roughly two years as a litigation paralegal—technically, a “project assistant”—in the Chicago office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. That turned out to be a very positive experience for all parties, so much so that Kramer decided to apply to law schools and to maintain a close relationship with Kirkland. He received letters of recommendation from several Kirkland partners, summered at Kirkland’s New York office during law school, joined its Chicago office after graduating, and became a partner there earlier this year.

Along the way, he made a substantial and enduring impact on the Law School by cofounding the Corporate Lab while he was still a student; he also contributed to the growth of a dynamic new company, Gerchen Keller Capital, LLC (cofounded by Ashley Keller, ’07), which is pioneering the relatively new field of commercial litigation finance.

The Corporate Lab (which is now the Kirkland & Ellis Corporate Lab) is one of the Law School’s clinical offerings; it and its related programming have become central elements of the Law School’s business-related curriculum. Students work directly with legal and business leaders at household-name Fortune 500 corporations, nonprofits, and start-up companies, and they also benefit from an extensive speaker series, conferences, and symposia open to the greater Law School community.

Kramer helped Professor David Zarfes—who was then an assistant dean of the Law School—establish the Lab in 2009, transforming what had been a successful relationship with Microsoft into the dynamic learning experience that is the Lab today. Its “client” roster includes more than 15 leading companies, and more than 50 students are taught there each year. Kramer has maintained his relationship with the Lab, as a lecturer in law and the Lab’s cochair, along with Professor Zarfes, who heads the transactional curriculum and oversees adjunct faculty at the Law School. Zarfes’s appreciation for Kramer is unstinting: “Sean Kramer is among the most able and intelligent students I have encountered in my time teaching, at both Chicago and Columbia. He is pure gold,” he says.

Kramer worked as an analyst at Gerchen Keller from last May until April of this year. The company invests in commercial litigation by providing capital to help companies and law firms manage costs and expand working capital, de-risk legal exposures, and monetize fees, judgments, and settlements. During Kramer’s tenure, Gerchen Keller zoomed to prominence and became the world’s largest investment firm in its field.

“I was honored to have the opportunity to work at such a great company with a lot of very brilliant people,” Kramer says. “But I found that my heart was still with Kirkland, and I was thrilled when Kirkland invited me to come back on a fast track to a partnership.”

“It goes without saying that I received a top-flight legal education at the Law School,” Kramer observes. “But what I really loved about it was the extraordinary network of people, inside the school and among its graduates, who will step up to support your passions and goals. Professor Zarfes, Dean Schill, and many others were completely supportive as the Corporate Lab developed, and after I graduated and joined Kirkland, Steve Ritchie, [’88], a senior corporate partner and a tremendous supporter of the Law School, helped me grow within the practice group that best fit my personality and desired career path. Many Law School graduates from Kirkland have spoken at the Lab and mentored students there, and the decision to put the firm’s name on the Lab was very important to me. I can’t begin to say how grateful I am for this great school and the amazing people who make up its community.”