Sara Champion

Principal

Contact

  • Chicago

Education

Sara Champion provides economic analysis and applies advanced statistical techniques to complex business litigation. Dr. Champion leads teams to address class certification, liability, and damages issues, often analyzing large, proprietary datasets. Specializing in labor, employment, and antitrust and competition matters, she has particular expertise in healthcare and education. Dr. Champion’s industry experience also includes agriculture, banking, consumer products, pharmaceuticals, and technology.

Labor, employment, and discrimination

Dr. Champion has extensive experience with high-profile labor and employment matters involving class certification, compensation, and allegations of discrimination and monopsony power. Her recent work includes:

Antitrust and competition

Dr. Champion analyzes class certification, liability, and damages issues in antitrust and competition matters, including:

Healthcare and life sciences

Dr. Champion has experience with False Claims Act (FCA) issues, including reimbursement-related disputes. She has also addressed competition issues arising in the healthcare sector, notably those involving health insurance providers and pharmaceutical companies. Representative work includes:

  • Assessing allegations of fraudulent pricing and anticompetitive conduct brought against pharmaceutical companies
  • Evaluating the competitive impact of proposed divestiture in U.S. v. Aetna/Humana
  • Analyzing the competitive impact of alleged reverse payment settlement agreements between pharmaceutical manufacturers
Consumer fraud and product liability

Across a diverse range of cases, Dr. Champion has consulted on alleged consumer fraud, product liability, and general damages issues. Her expertise includes:

  • Supporting class certification, damages, and education experts in multiple matters alleging that universities breached their contract with students when switching to remote education during the COVID-19 pandemic
  • Performing econometric analysis, including critiquing conjoint survey data and modeling consumer preferences, in the bellwether consumer class action In re Whirlpool Front-Loading Washer Products Liability Litigation
  • Estimating damages for high-profile cases involving consumer fraud allegations in the banking industry

Prior to joining Cornerstone Research, Dr. Champion was an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. She has also taught undergraduate courses in statistics.

Event

50th Annual Conference on International Antitrust Law and Policy, and Antitrust Economics Workshop

Case

No-Poach Clauses in QSR Litigation

Case

Students for Fair Admissions Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College et al.

Case

Allegations of “No-Poach” Hiring Agreement Between Tech Firms

Press Release

Cornerstone Research Announces Promotions to Senior Vice President and Principal

Case

Proposed Merger of Aetna and Humana Enjoined

Case

Southeastern Milk Antitrust Litigation

Case

In re Whirlpool Corp. Front-Loading Washer Products Liability Litigation

  • “Emerging Competition Issues in Biologics,” Antitrust Health Care Chronicle, July 2013