Cornerstone Research Promotes Ten Senior Staff to Principal

Economic and financial consulting firm advances Allen, Kifer, Kirmani, Lee, Li Bergolis, Lin, Mola, Oka, Olivieri, and Schick to the role of principal.

San Francisco—Cornerstone Research, a leading provider of economic and financial consulting and expert testimony, has promoted the following senior consulting staff to principal: Mark Allen, Avigail Kifer, Ahsan Kirmani, James Lee, Matteo Li Bergolis, Jerry Lin, Simona Mola, Shane Oka, Elisa Olivieri, and Lindsay Schick.

“We warmly congratulate these newly promoted colleagues on their outstanding achievements,” said Yesim Richardson, Cornerstone Research’s president. “They have demonstrated exceptional leadership in the firm, serving as trusted mentors to their colleagues, championing our culture, and delivering best-in-class support to our clients and experts. ”

We warmly congratulate these newly promoted colleagues on their outstanding achievements and the exceptional leadership they have demonstrated.

More information about the firm’s new principals appears below.

Mark A. Allen has extensive expertise with matters involving mergers and acquisitions (M&A), corporate governance, and securities, as well as general damages issues. His industry expertise includes aircraft manufacturing, banking, energy, labor, life sciences, real estate, and technology. He manages Cornerstone Research’s publications related to securities class action filings, and has also published research on estimating economic losses in damages awards. Mr. Allen is based in Silicon Valley.

Avigail Kifer works on matters involving antitrust and competition, healthcare, merger review, and intellectual property. Her industry experience spans financial markets, internet advertising, technology, and life sciences. She consults and publishes on issues related to e-commerce, online advertising, and mobile apps. Women@ has recognized her as an “up-and-coming” woman professional in the competition space. Dr. Kifer is based in New York.

Ahsan Kirmani focuses on securities litigation and valuation matters, as well as government enforcement actions involving the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Conduct Authority. He has extensive experience with securities class actions involving Rule 10b-5 and Section 11/12 claims. He also has substantial expertise with valuation methodologies, including discounted cash flow (DCF), comparable companies, and comparable transactions. Mr. Kirmani is based in Washington.

James Lee develops econometric models, analyzes complex data, and leads case teams in matters involving a range of topics, including antitrust and competition, consumer fraud, and product liability. He has addressed class certification, liability, and damages issues in the automobile, commodities trading, consumer goods, life sciences, and technology industries, among others. Dr. Lee is based in Los Angeles.

Matteo Li Bergolis has worked across all phases of high-profile consumer class action matters. He has substantial expertise in applied survey analyses, including conjoint analysis. He analyzes economic, marketing, and statistical issues arising in product liability, false advertising, data privacy, data breach, antitrust, and intellectual property matters. Dr. Li Bergolis is based in New York.

Jerry Lin is a chartered financial analyst who specializes in litigation and regulatory investigations related to market microstructure, securities, and valuation, with a focus on sophisticated, large-scale data analytics. He has analyzed market and internal trading data in complex market microstructure matters. He is experienced with discounted cash flow (DCF) and other valuation methodologies. Mr. Lin is based in Chicago.

Simona Mola has over two decades of experience in consulting, government, and academia. Across a range of securities litigations, she analyzes issues related to Securities and Exchange Commission disclosure requirements, financial reporting, corporate governance, and executive compensation. She has extensive expertise in cryptocurrency, initial coin offerings, and token economies, and plays a key role in the firm’s research on these topics. Dr. Mola is based in Washington.

Shane Oka consults and provides expert testimony on valuation and damages issues. He has extensive expertise with damages related to intellectual property, breach of contract, and securities class certification. His experience also includes quantifying lost profits, reasonable royalties, and trade secrets damages. As an expert witness, he has testified on breach of contract issues. Mr. Oka is based in Los Angeles.

Elisa Olivieri provides economic analysis in antitrust and labor economics matters, with a focus on race, gender, and age discrimination issues. She analyzes class certification, liability, and damages in a range of antitrust and competition cases. In high-profile labor matters, she addresses class certification, damages, hiring, compensation, and promotion issues. Dr. Olivieri is based in Chicago.

Lindsay Schick focuses on investment management, consumer financial products, and consumer behavior matters. She analyzes issues related to class certification, liability, and economic damages, and has substantial expertise with advanced statistical analyses of complex data. She is actively involved in the firm’s research on Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement actions and publishes regularly on this topic. Ms. Schick is based in Chicago.