Professional notice
| Global head | Renée Duplantis |
|---|---|
| Home jurisdiction | US |
| Total size of firm | 275 |
| Competition economists | 70 |
| % of firm specialised | 25% |
| Who’s Who Legal: Competition nominees | 6 |
| Group one | N/A |
| Group two | N/A |
| Group three | N/A |
| Group four | N/A |
| Lateral hires | 2 |
| Departures | 1 |
| Internal promotions | 1 |
With a network of experts that includes Nobel laureate Daniel McFadden, the Brattle Group regularly provides testimony on high-stakes economic issues related to price-fixing and other cartel investigations in a wide range of industries, including digital markets, telecommunications and healthcare.
The firm’s competition practice continues to expand, increasing the number of matters it advised on by 44% in 2020 compared to the previous year. Brattle Group welcomed principal and Who’s Who Legal: Competition nominee Rosa Abrantes-Metz to its New York office in October 2020, as well as Loren Smith as a principal in Washington, DC, in April 2020. Smith, who leads the firm’s US merger practice, was previously an executive vice president at Compass Lexecon from April 2013 to April 2020. Prior to that, he was an economist at the Federal Trade Commission from September 2005 to March 2013.
Brattle worked on 24 mergers or other transactions that proceeded to a second request or Phase II investigation during our research window. The consultancy supported Dish Network in the New York State Attorneys’ General lawsuit challenging the Sprint/T-Mobile merger, while also providing rebuttal testimony in the Federal Communications Commission’s review of Nexstar’s acquisition of Tribune. In Europe, Brattle assisted insurance company UNIQA on its purchase of competitor AXA in Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The merger was unconditionally cleared by the European Commission in July 2020.
Brattle advised on 31 competition litigation matters during our research window, including in the Blue Cross Blue Shield antitrust litigation. The firm is assessing the effects of market allocation and ownership restrictions as part of an alleged nationwide price-fixing conspiracy by US health insurer Blue Cross Blue Shield. Brattle economists are also assisting in assessing damages in the Auto Parts cartel antitrust litigation on behalf of a major North American automobile manufacturer.
International consultancy The Brattle Group provides economic analysis and expert testimony on antitrust and competition matters in a wide range of industries throughout the world. Our broad network of experts includes Nobel Laureates Joseph Stiglitz (Columbia University) and Daniel McFadden (University of California at Berkeley), professors at leading universities, former chief economists at Competition Bureau Canada and the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition, and former staff economists at the Federal Trade Commission and the US Department of Justice. Brattle’s work spans numerous industries, including but not limited to, high tech, telecom, transportation, healthcare, insurance, financial services, automotive, and energy.
Our competition practice continues to expand, with a heightened focus on lateral Principal hiring and support for those Principals. This year, we welcomed:
- Dr. Rosa M. Abrantes-Metz, Principal, New York
- Laurent Eymard, Principal, Brussels
- Dr. Loren K. Smith, Principal, Washington, DC
- Dr. Minjae Song, Principal, Washington, DC
Brattle’s Competition team regularly provides testimony on in-depth and high-stakes economic issues related to price fixing and other types of cartel investigations and investigations regarding alleged abuse of dominance, conducted by national competition authorities in North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. We often evaluate the competitive effects of mergers and acquisitions, in which we identify key competitive issues and conduct qualitative and quantitative analyses of their likely impacts on prices and other market features. Our experience spans a variety of complex horizontal and vertical transactions, including the formulation of mitigation measures where appropriate.
In both antitrust and competition investigations – as well as throughout the merger review process – Brattle economists provide sophisticated econometric analyses of complex datasets, apply simulation models used in predicting the effects of alleged anticompetitive conduct, and develop and refine cutting-edge economic arguments related to exclusionary behavior and cost-raising strategies.