The American Antitrust Institute (AAI) presented awards for achievement in antitrust litigation at its annual conference in Washington DC. Janet Netz was awarded the Outstanding Antitrust Litigation Achievement in Economics for her work In re TFT-LCD Antitrust Litigation. Dr. Netz was the testifying expert for the indirect purchaser plaintiffs (IPPs) in the price-fixing case involving nine Asian manufacturers of flat panel LCD screens that were incorporated in TVs, computer monitors, and laptops. The IPP case settled for $1.082 billion in cash, which is easily the largest all-cash indirect purchaser settlement in history, and also one of the largest settlements ever in any private civil antitrust case.

The nine manufacturers that comprised the cartel supplied approximately 98% of the worldwide market for large LCD panels during the period the cartel operated, 1999-2006. Sales of LCD panels at issue to class members were approximately $23.5 billion during this period. Representatives of the cartel’s member companies, including senior executives (several of whom accepted prison terms), met about once a month for years to collude on capacity and output, and to fix prices.

Dr. Netz  and applEcon worked on this litigation for five years, submitting thirteen expert reports and declarations; Dr. Netz was deposed four times. After submitting a declaration and rebuttal in support of class certification, Dr. Netz subsequently submitted an expert report and rebuttal on the merits, as well as additional written testimony on several other topics including ascertainability and class decertification. The work of applEcon was instrumental in many legal filings, including responding to a Daubert motion. The judge cited Dr. Netz’s work in many of the judge’s rulings. This award is a reflection of the dedication, hard-work, and commitment shown by applEcon staff members, all of whom share in this award. The quality of this work is illustrated by Martin Quinn, the court-appointed Special Master in this matter, who wrote, “it is no exaggeration to say that the IPP case rose and fell on Dr. Netz’s testimony.”

For more information on this litigation, see the applEcon LCD case study.

The American Antitrust Institute is an education, research, and advocacy organization working to increase the role of competition, assure that competition serves the interests of consumers, and challenge abuses of concentrated economic power in the American and world economy. For more information, see American Antitrust Institute.

Erin Lane, Juan Nagel, and Dr. Janet Netz’s paper, Alternative Approaches to Measuring MRP: Are All Men’s College Basketball Players Exploited?, was discussed in the Chicago Policy Review,  a publication “dedicated to bridging the gap between academic research and policy practice”. Their research grew out of work on White v. NCAA. Relying on publicly available data, Lane, Nagel, and Netz showed that the contributions of men’s basketball players at Division I schools is generally far above the size of the scholarships awarded to these players.

Additional Resources:

Chicago Review article.

“Alternative Approaches to Measuring MRP: Are All Men’s College Basketball Payers Exploited?” by Erin Lane, Juan Nagel, and Dr. Janet Netz.

Testimony from Dr. Janet Netz of applEcon assisted purchasers of cathode ray tube (CRT) televisions and computer monitors in obtaining a recommendation for class certification from the Interim Special Master who wrote: “Having undertaken a rigorous analysis of plaintiffs’ evidence (particularly, the reports of Dr. Netz), the Interim Special Master finds that Plaintiffs have satisfied their burden of showing that common questions predominate on proof of the cartel’s price-fixing activities, the direct purchasers’ payment of supra-competitive pricing as a result of the alleged cartel, on proof of common impact on class members, and on proof of damages.”

Additional Resources:

CRT Class Certification

Interim Special Master’s recommendation to grant plaintiffs’ Motion for Class Certification Part 1.

Interim Special Master’s recommendation to grant plaintiffs’ Motion for Class Certification Part 2.

Interim Special Master’s recommendation to deny defendants’ Motion to Strike Dr. Netz’s expert testimony.

The findings by a team of economists from applEcon, led by partner Jeffrey MacKie-Mason, were instrumental in a recent ruling in Geoffrey Pecover and Jeffrey Lawrence v. Electronic Arts, Inc. A federal judge has certified a class of millions of video gamers who bought Electronic Arts Inc.’s “Madden NFL” and other football games, in a suit claiming the video game maker’s exclusive licensing deals with sports leagues have killed off competition.

Read Judge’s Ruling.

applEcon principal, Janet Netz, was invited to participate in a panel discussion at the New York State Bar Association annual meeting.  

The panel entitled – “Fifty Miles from Home with a Briefcase: Expert Hot Topics” – was part of the Antitrust Law Section Annual Meeting which was held on Thursday, January 27, 2011. The panel, made up of a plaintiffs’ lawyer and a defendants’ lawyer, a representative of defendants’ experts, and Dr. Netz, discussed the state of the law in terms of antitrust class actions, including a discussion of what economic experts could contribute to the class certification stage of antitrust cases.

applEcon is pleased to announce the launch of a new web site. With a respected reputation built over more than twenty years of applied economics consulting, applEcon continues to provide expert economic analysis and consultation to clients in a wide range of matters.

The new web site will provide visitors with an overview of our research, analysis, support, and testimony capabilities, plus help illustrate the depth of our involvement in many landmark decisions and notable cases. Additionally, the site’s team profile pages allow applEcon clients to learn more about the people with whom they’ll be working closely.

The European Commission has appointed Professor Kai-Uwe Kühn as new Chief Economist of the Directorate General for Competition. Professor Kühn holds a doctorate in economics from Oxford University and is currently an Associate Professor at the University of Michigan. Professor Kühn will begin his three-year appointment May 1, 2011 and will be responsible for evaluating the economic implications of the European Commission’s actions, rules, and policies related to the competition field. 

The Chief Economist assists in evaluating the economic impact of the Commission’s actions in the competition field and provides independent guidance on methodological issues of economics and econometrics in the application of EU competition rules. He contributes to competition cases, in particular those involving complex economic issues and quantitative analysis and to the development of general policy instruments.

Professor Kühn has advised clients on a number of competition cases brought before the Commission, in particular the Microsoft antitrust investigation and the GE / Honeywell merger. Since 1992, he has held teaching positions at Princeton University, the autonomous University of Barcelona and others. In recent years, his work has focused on antitrust economics, with a particular interest on collusion and vertical integration.

The Commission has also appointed Jonas Rasimas, currently chairman of the Lithuanian Competition Council, as a Director responsible for competition matters in the field of energy and the environment.

University of Michigan’s Distinguished Faculty Achievement Awards honor senior faculty who consistently have demonstrated outstanding achievements in the areas of scholarly research and/or creative endeavors; teaching and mentoring of students and junior faculty; service; and a variety of other activities. Up to five awards of $1,500 are made each year.

Read University Record article.

The European Commission recently opened an antitrust investigation of IBM actions regarding its mainframe computer hardware and software. applEcon, working with University of Michigan Professor Kai-Uwe Kühn, provided extensive assistance instrumental to software vendor T3’s European complaint. 

applEcon provided economic analysis and document review services, as well as meeting with the European Commission economic team. 

Read press release.

Effective July 1, 2010, Jeffrey MacKie-Mason will serve as dean of the School of Information. As a founding faculty member, MacKie-Mason was among the visionaries who designed the School of Information in the mid-1990’s.

“We are confident that Dr. MacKie-Mason will provide impressive leadership for the School of Information, strengthening the school’s international reputation of excellence in providing innovative education for the next generation of information professionals,” says Teresa Sullivan, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, who announced the appointment April 29.

Read University Record article.