Matthew Kelly's Rotation History

“As a summer associate, I split my time between the Litigation and Corporate Departments, joining the latter when I returned as a first year. A big part of the reason I decided to come to Cravath was because, not knowing exactly what I wanted to do early on, I knew I would be able to spend time in several diverse corporate practice areas—including banking, capital markets, M&A and finance restructuring and reorganization. 

By function, the rotation system promotes knowledge sharing and eschews siloing, teaching us to be nimble in the face of our clients’ complex and varied problems. You don’t approach a problem as an “M&A” lawyer or a “finance” lawyer, but rather as an advisor who can provide guidance to your client even if the matter does not neatly fit into a practice area box. 

One memory in particular stands out: I was an associate in an M&A rotation when we were called out to California to help a client negotiate a suite of commercial contracts and IP licensing arrangements as part of a potential settlement to a long-running multijurisdictional litigation battle. In short, this was not an M&A deal, or a securities offering or a syndicated loan (which is the bread‑and‑butter of our corporate practice), or even anything that any outside corporate counsel would typically do. But that was not an obstacle: our training gave us the flexibility and the tools needed to assist the client and bring the matter to a successful resolution. 

One other thing that may not be obvious about the rotation system is how it fosters a feeling of community for associates going through it. In your first year, you will be in the trenches with more senior associates and with partners; in your second year, you will be learning from people both above and below you; and as you continue to rotate and become more senior, you will start to manage and teach younger associates while working even more closely with partners. In short, after your rotations, you will have worked with and learned from—and really come to know—a large number of partners and associates across the entire department. For people who like trying new things every couple of years, gaining expertise across a wide range of areas, this is the place to do it.”