Erin Lane
Economist
M.S.W., University of Michigan
B.A. in Economics, University of Michigan
734.214.2222
Erin Lane is an Economist who joined applEcon in 2004 after completing her B.A. in Economics. She has worked on cases in a wide variety of industries including pharmaceuticals, software and in-store advertising. While pursuing her Ph.D. in Social Work and Sociology, she gained extensive training in quantitative research methodology, including econometrics, agent-based modeling, and Bayesian statistics.
Consulting Experience
Valassis v. News America
Antitrust Liability for Plaintiff
applEcon presented trial and deposition testimony that made a comprehensive, clear, and convincing case for liability for anticompetitive conduct, tortious interference, and unfair business practices, helping Valassis to a $300 million jury-decided victory at the first of three scheduled trials and to a final settlement of $500 million prior to trial on applEcon’s home ground,…
Morelock Enterprises, Inc. v. Weyerhaeuser Co.
Antitrust Damages for Plaintiff
applEcon developed and implemented two methods to calculate the overcharge to purchasers of finished alder lumber, leading the judge to certify a class of direct purchasers and the jury to award the class $28 million. Weyerhaeuser operates mills in the Pacific Northwest that buy hardwood sawlogs and sell finished lumber, primarily red alder, a species…
Compuware Corporation v. International Business Machines Corporation
Antitrust Liability for Plaintiff
Compuware alleged that IBM illegally used its monopoly power over mainframe hardware and certain types of mainframe software to harm competition in other mainframe software markets. Compuware had long sold software “tools” for developing, testing and managing mainframe applications or environments. In about 2000, IBM entered these markets with its own products. According to Compuware,…
IBM v. Platform Solutions and t3 Technologies
Antitrust, Intellectual Property
Southern District of New York t3 Technologies (t3) alleged IBM misused intellectual property rights and tied operating systems licenses to hardware, thereby maintaining its monopoly over mainframe hardware. applEcon, working in close coordination with t3’s lawyers, provided evidence and analyses that were key to getting both the European Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice…
NCAA
Antitrust
United States District Court for the Central District of California, Western Division The National Collegiate Athletic Association (“NCAA”) and its Division I member schools restrict the amount of athletic-based financial aid that student-athletes may receive below the actual cost of attending college. Suit was brought on behalf of a class of student-athletes alleging that this restriction…
Unocal Damages
Damages Analysis, Antitrust
United States District Court in the Central District of California Unocal influenced California regulators to adopt regulations that, unbeknownst to regulators, conferred monopoly power upon Unocal. applEcon quantified the resulting overcharges paid by California consumers, which helped class members to win a settlement of $48 million. Unocal filed patent applications for certain gasoline formulations, and…
Unocal Liability
Liability, Antitrust
United States District Court for the Central District of California Unocal influenced California regulators to adopt regulations that, unbeknownst to regulators, conferred monopoly power upon Unocal. applEcon helped California gasoline consumers to win a settlement of $48 million. Unocal filed patent applications for certain gasoline formulations, and subsequently proposed that formulations covered by its patent…
In re: TFT-LCD (Flat Panel) Antitrust Litigation
Antitrust, Damages Analysis, Class Certification
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California applEcon helped a class of U.S. consumers to obtain settlements totaling $1.082 billion from a cartel of manufacturers of liquid crystal display (LCD) panels. LCD panels are flat video displays used in computer monitors, laptop computers, and televisions. The nine manufacturers that comprised the cartel supplied…
Pro‑Sys Consultants Ltd. v. Microsoft Corporation
Antitrust, Liability, Causation, Damages, Class Certification for Plaintiffs
Supreme Court of Canada Microsoft settled with indirect purchasers of Microsoft software in Canada for CAD $517 million in Pro-Sys Consultants Ltd. and Neil Godfrey v. Microsoft Corporation and Microsoft Canada Co. Class Members who are non-volume licensees will receive cash payments and volume licensees will receive volume licensee vouchers. Pro-Sys Consultants Ltd. v. Microsoft was filed in…
Class Action Cases Against Microsoft
Antitrust, Liability, Causation, Damages, Class Certification for Plaintiffs
U.S. vs. Microsoft concluded that Microsoft had exercised power over PC operating system prices, but awarded no damages to consumers. Consumers in seven states received over $1.6 billion in settlements from Microsoft from antitrust suits that relied on applEcon for its liability and damages expertise. applEcon’s first and largest state case on behalf of consumers…