Our staff and experts have worked on class certification, liability, and damages issues in antitrust and competition matters in a range of industries, including technology, financial institutions, agriculture, telecommunications, transportation, and pharmaceuticals. We have also consulted to the parties and agencies in merger matters involving horizontal and vertical issues.

We also have experience with cases at the intersection of antitrust with intellectual property and matters involving labor and financial markets.

Our extensive network includes top experts from academia and industry.

Our extensive network includes top experts from academia and industry.

Celeste C. Saravia

Vice President,
Cornerstone Research;
Lecturer,
University of California, Berkeley

Celeste Saravia coheads Cornerstone Research’s antitrust and competition practice. Dr. Saravia provides economic and statistical consulting, analysis, and expert testimony in complex business litigation. She addresses class certification, liability, and damages issues in antitrust litigation matters involving allegations of collusion, vertical restraints, and other allegedly anticompetitive behavior, as well as assessing the competitive effects of mergers.

Dr. Saravia works on matters in many industries, including life sciences (pharmaceuticals and medical devices), finance, information technology, energy, telecommunications, and media. Who’s Who Legal has recognized her multiple times as a Global Leader among competition economists. Dr. Saravia teaches economics courses at the University of California, Berkeley.

Antitrust and competition

Dr. Saravia has served as an expert in more than a dozen cases dealing with a variety of antitrust issues, including no-poach agreements, non-compete agreements, price fixing, monopolization, bundling, exclusive dealing, predatory pricing, price discrimination, and product hopping. These cases include Inline Packaging LLC v. Graphic Packaging International Inc. and Fresenius Kabi USA LLC v. Par Sterile Products LLC et al. Dr. Saravia offered trial testimony in In re HIV Antitrust Litigation, a case involving an allegedly anticompetitive reverse payment in a pharmaceutical patent settlement; and in J & M Distributing Inc. v. Hearth & Home Technologies Inc. et al., an alleged monopolization case.

Dr. Saravia has provided government agencies and parties support in all phases of merger review. She has analyzed competitive effects in prominent proposed mergers, such as Sysco/US Foods and Thoratec/Heartware. The Department of Justice (DOJ) retained Dr. Saravia to assess the competitive effects of the proposed merger between China International Marine Containers Group and Maersk Container Industry.

As a consultant, Dr. Saravia leads teams working on high-profile matters, including FTC v. Qualcomm, In re Flash Memory Antitrust Litigation, American Express Travel Related Services Company Inc. v. Visa USA Inc. et al., and Thales Avionics Inc. v. Matsushita Avionics Systems Corporation.

Energy and commodities

Dr. Saravia has developed analytical and statistical models to examine the competitiveness of deregulated electricity markets and modeled the competitive effects of a proposed merger of two electricity firms. In a matter related to an alleged monopsony by the largest purchaser of a natural resource, she provided a preliminary injunction analysis and addressed class certification, liability, and damages issues.

Intellectual property

Dr. Saravia has addressed general damages and intellectual property issues in a variety of matters. In Verizon Services Corp. et al. v. Cox Fibernet Virginia Inc. et al., she analyzed reasonable royalty rates, lost profits, and price erosion due to patent infringement. She also addressed reasonable royalty rates due to patent infringement in Brandeis University and GFA Brands Inc. v. Keebler Co. et al. Dr. Saravia analyzed class certification, liability, and damages related to a breach of contract dispute in the hospitality industry.

Dr. Saravia speaks and publishes frequently on competition issues. She won a Concurrences Antitrust Writing Award for her coauthored article, “Analyzing Incentives and Liability in ‘Hub-and-Spoke’ Conspiracies.” She has published research in Global Competition Review, including “Horizontal Merger Guidelines and Market Definition in Monopolization Cases” and “Standards for Assessing Bundled Discounts.”

Before joining Cornerstone Research, Dr. Saravia worked at the University of California Energy Institute.

Our extensive network includes top experts from academia and industry.

Justin McCrary

Paul J. Evanson Professor of Law,
Columbia Law School;
Senior Advisor, Cornerstone Research

Justin McCrary is an expert on statistical methods and economic modeling at the intersection of law and economics. Professor McCrary has testified on issues related to class certification, antitrust, labor, and statistics. His experience covers a range of industries and markets, including healthcare, life sciences, labor, telecommunications, high tech, and retail.

Class certification

Professor McCrary provided testimony in two seminal no-poach litigation matters involving the McDonald’s and Jimmy John’s franchises. In both matters, he analyzed the potential procompetitive benefits of the challenged clauses and opined on issues of class certification. Class certification was denied in both cases, with both U.S. district court judges relying on Professor McCrary’s analyses in their opinions.

Professor McCrary has testified on class certification issues in a high-profile gender discrimination case focused on pay and promotion outcomes at a large U.S. retailer. He has also filed reports on class certification issues in false advertising, product liability, and breach of contract matters.

Antitrust

Professor McCrary has extensive experience as an expert in antitrust cases. In a significant matter in a high-tech industry, he addressed allegations of conspiracy to fix prices, as well as analyzed and rebutted an opposing expert’s damages model. He has analyzed damages resulting from alleged collusion among pharmacies in South America. In AT&T’s acquisition of T-Mobile, Professor McCrary served as a consulting expert for the U.S. Department of Justice.

Statistical methods and analysis

An authority on high-performance computing and statistical techniques, Professor McCrary has testified at deposition on sampling, probability theory, and statistical methods. His experience includes multiple mortgage-backed securities and insider trading matters. He has also examined the statistical evidence for alleged overbilling of Medicare by healthcare providers in both government audit and False Claim Act matters.

Research and teaching

Professor McCrary has published research on econometric methods for measuring damages in antitrust litigation. In addition, his scholarship covers a wide range of topics, including employment discrimination, high-frequency trading, financial market structure, and monetary policy. A prolific author and co-author, his work has appeared in leading journals, including the American Economic Review, the Journal of Econometrics, and the Review of Economics and Statistics. Professor McCrary is a faculty research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Prior to joining Columbia University, Professor McCrary taught at the School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the founding director of the UC Berkeley Social Sciences Data Laboratory, or “D-Lab,” which focuses on emerging big data techniques in social science research.

Our extensive network includes top experts from academia and industry.

W. Robert Majure

Vice President

Bob Majure coheads Cornerstone Research’s merger investigations practice in Washington, DC. Dr. Majure has wide-ranging expertise with merger and joint venture analysis, antitrust proceedings, regulatory actions, and appellate filings. He has experience across many industries, including agriculture, energy, health insurance, high tech, industrial equipment, media, professional services, telecommunications, and transportation. Who’s Who Legal has recognized Dr. Majure as a Global Leader among competition economists.

Dr. Majure is the former Director of Economics for the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. In this role, he worked closely with the Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Economic Analysis and other members of the Antitrust Division front office, monitoring merger enforcement and litigation matters, allegations of anticompetitive horizontal conduct, and monopolization. Dr. Majure has received awards for senior executive civil service, culminating in Presidential recognition.

An expert in industrial organization economics, Dr. Majure worked on every merger challenge brought by the Antitrust Division during his nine years as director, including Aetna/Humana, Anthem/Cigna, AT&T/T-Mobile, AT&T/Time Warner, GE/Electrolux, and USAir/American.

He was also instrumental in major merger settlements, notably Anheuser-Busch InBev/SABMiller, Bayer/Monsanto, Comcast/NBCU, CVS/Aetna, and Dow/DuPont.

As part of the DOJ’s non-merger enforcement, Dr. Majure supervised numerous investigations of business practices, as well as several challenges, such as American Express, Apple, and Carolinas Healthcare System.

Dr. Majure’s career at the DOJ spanned nearly twenty-five years and several key roles. In addition to supporting the Antitrust Division’s enforcement and policy activities across all of its areas of interest, he frequently coordinated practices and policies with senior representatives of other domestic and international enforcement agencies, such as the Federal Trade Commission and the Directorate-General for Competition (DG Comp). He was also actively involved in multinational competition policy efforts through the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the International Competition Network (ICN).

Previously, Dr. Majure served as a section chief and as an assistant section chief in the Antitrust Division’s Economic Analysis Group (EAG). In these capacities, he led the economic team supporting the Division’s enforcement and policy activities. He submitted testimony on competitive effects in Union Pacific/Southern Pacific Railroad and on the suitability of remedy in U.S. v. SBC Communications Inc. and AT&T Corp. and U.S. v. Verizon Communications Inc. and MCI Inc. He also served on the committee that drafted the 2010 Horizontal Merger Guidelines.

Our extensive network includes top experts from academia and industry.

Ashley Langer

Associate Professor of Economics,
Eller College of Management,
University of Arizona

Ashley Langer is an econometrics, energy, and industrial organization expert. Professor Langer applies sophisticated empirical methods to study regulation, competition, and firm and consumer behavior. She analyzes a range of economic issues, including those involving energy markets, transportation, and the environment. Professor Langer has testified on issues related to class certification and economic damages, including in such high-profile class actions as Guzman et al. v. Polaris Inc. et al. and Garcia et al. v. Volkswagen Group of America Inc. et al.

Professor Langer has analyzed consumer decisions, including those related to the automotive and oil industries. She has evaluated decisions on which vehicles to drive, how preferences form, when and where to purchase fuel, and whether to adopt electric vehicles. She has also investigated the impact of consumer demographic group preferences on vehicle pricing.

In her recent research, Professor Langer has assessed energy and environmental policy design issues. For example, she has analyzed international oil markets and the factors that influence pricing, as well as how Clean Air Act regulatory enforcement affects pollution levels and firms’ investment decisions. Further, she has studied the impact of energy policy on durable goods such as automobiles and residential solar. In particular, Professor Langer has examined how households respond to solar subsidies that change over time, how uncertainty surrounding policy enforcement affects coal power plant retirement and upgrade decisions, and how taxing vehicle mileage (rather than fuel consumption) changes Highway Trust Fund revenues. Her earlier work includes assessing the effect of congestion tolling on urban land use.

Professor Langer’s research has been published in leading academic journals, including the American Economic Review, the Journal of Public Economics, and the Review of Economics and Statistics. She is a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER).

At the University of Arizona, Professor Langer teaches courses in business strategy, empirical research methods, environmental economics, energy and environmental policy, and government regulation. She has been honored with several teaching and advising awards. In addition, Professor Langer presents on industrial organization and empirical research methods, as well as transportation, energy, and environmental topics, at professional conferences and universities in the United States and internationally.

Professor Langer previously taught at the Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan. She was a visiting scholar at Columbia Business School and the Energy Policy Institute of Chicago, University of Chicago.

Antitrust and Competition Capabilities

Our experience in matters involving allegations of anticompetitive horizontal conduct includes cases in which plaintiffs alleged price fixing, agreements to allocate territories or customers, or group boycotts. We have worked on major cases for the joint defense and for individual clients including recent cases involving labor markets, payment cards, energy, pharmaceuticals, financial instruments, and auto parts. In these and other assignments, we have assessed the economic incentives of the alleged participants, tested hypotheses that distinguish competitive from collusive behavior, and assessed the likelihood and quantum of damages.

We have analyzed claims of monopolization, tying, exclusive dealing, and anticompetitive pricing practices, such as loyalty or volume discounts and bundled rebates. We have assessed whether these practices can be attributed to competition among firms, are the result of hard bargaining between buyers and sellers, and have efficiencies that outweigh any potential harm to competition. Our recent experience includes cases involving high-technology products and services, pharmaceuticals, and health insurance.

Cornerstone Research has worked on many direct and indirect purchaser class certification matters. Our case experience and analytical breadth enables us to meet the changing demand for rigorous empirical and conceptual assessment of both the questions of common impact and common proof and of the merits issues that bear on those questions. Recently, we have assisted counsel in antitrust matters involving mobile devices, pharmaceuticals, and employment practices.

We have analyzed the potential competitive effects of horizontal and vertical mergers in the context of government investigations and private litigation in the United States and Europe. We apply economic theory and quantitative economic methods to define relevant markets, identify close competitors, determine competitive interactions, analyze potential price impacts and potential for foreclosure, and assess whether there are efficiencies associated with the proposed collaboration.

Cornerstone Research experts have testified on matters involving failing firm defenses and exiting assets arguments in a number of industries, including healthcare, finance, and technology. Our experts have assisted antitrust authorities in evaluating the merits of failing firm claims and consulted to merging parties arguing the failing firm defense affirmatively. Assessing failing firm arguments from both the enforcement agencies’ and merging parties’ perspectives gives us distinct insight into the rigorous demands of this defense.

Featured Cases

Featured Publications

13 March 2024

How A 3-Firm ‘Joint Effort’ Beat A $3.6B Pharma Antitrust Suit

In this Law360 article, counsel discusses Celeste Saravia’s pivotal role as the economic expert in a pharmaceutical antitrust lawsuit.

1 March 2024

Algorithms, Artificial Intelligence, and Antitrust: An Overview

This article discusses the implications of the use of AI-powered algorithms on consumers and competition.

23 February 2024

Cornerstone Research Shortlisted for 2024 GCR Awards

Global Competition Review recognizes the firm’s work on high-profile 2023 matters, and shortlists Celeste Saravia as Economist of the Year.

20 February 2024

Brussels Team Expands with Experienced Competition Hire

Dr. Norbert Maier joins Cornerstone Research, with deep antitrust law and competition expertise from the EU Commission DG COMP team.

8 February 2024

Trends in Merger Investigations and Enforcement at the U.S. Antitrust Agencies: Fiscal Years 2005-2022

In fiscal year 2022, merger transactions and second requests decreased from the prior year.

7 February 2024

Assessing Merger Guideline Feedback With Machine Learning

This article analyzes the results of large language model processing to reveal several important patterns in the comments to the draft merger guide...

5 February 2024

Cornerstone Research Named Among 2024 Outstanding Global Economic Consultancies

Global Competition Review describes the firm as “ideally placed to tackle the most complex and demanding competition mandates.”

22 January 2024

Dr. Ari Gerstle Joins Cornerstone Research as Senior Advisor and Expert

Renowned economist with over 20 years in the DOJ's Antitrust Division has joined the firm.

12 January 2024

2024 Antitrust Writing Awards

Cornerstone Research staff and affiliated experts are nominated in Concurrences Review’s annual selection of leading articles.

8 January 2024

A Summary of Comments on the 2023 Draft Merger Guidelines

The authors review comments on the DMGs that relate to economic analysis of merger review.

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