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About NERA
Since 1961, NERA has provided unparalleled guidance on the most important market, legal, and regulatory questions of the day. Our work has shaped industries and policy around the world. Our field-leading experts and deep experience allows us to provide rigorous analysis, reliable expert testimony, and data-powered policy recommendations for the world’s leading law firms and corporations as well as regulators and governments. Our experience, integrity, and economic ingenuity mean you can depend on us in the face of your biggest economic and financial challenges.
New York City, New York—NERA, a leading global provider of economic advice and analysis in business, legal, and regulatory matters, is pleased to announce Michael Dawes has been promoted to Director. In addition, Edward Lannan, Molly Sapia, Kaushal Vaddiraj, Longxuan Wang, Paul Arenas, Magnus Martinsen, and Kardin Somme have been promoted to Senior Consultant. Catarina Branco and Yasmine Frizlen are now Consultants.
Director:
Michael Dawes advises clients—primarily in the energy and electricity industry—on the challenges the energy transition creates for market and tariff design in electricity markets. He has provided expert witness testimony before the Alberta Utilities Commission on transmission tariff design and has supported clients across Great Britain, Australia, Japan, the Middle East, and North America. Dr. Dawes provides rigorous analytical and strategic support to regulators, utilities, and other stakeholders throughout the policy and tariff design and implementation process. He has supported clients through stakeholder and regulatory engagement and in the dispersal of findings by preparing public-facing reports and expert reports for testimony. Dr. Dawes also builds bespoke, cutting-edge models to support utilities and regulators on a range of issues including tariff impact analysis, policy design, and cost-benefit analysis.
Senior Consultants:
Edward Lannan designs and executes a range of economic analyses in the energy and infrastructure industries. His work is used in regulatory and commercial disputes and to advise companies in business decision making. Mr. Lannan’s recent transportation work includes competition analysis in multiple proceedings before the STB, including rail mergers involving Class-1 carriers and the use of econometric analysis regarding the price impacts of competition. His recent energy-related work includes damages analysis for power plant disputes and market advisory work analyzing future demand, cost, and prices for emerging energy technologies.
Molly Sapia provides trusted survey expertise including research design, questionnaire design, data analysis, survey programming and fielding, and monitoring data collection. Dr. Sapia’s work in intellectual property matters includes likelihood of confusion surveys, false advertising surveys, secondary meaning surveys, and other surveys for litigation under the Lanham Act. She has also worked on various conjoint surveys used in the calculation of damages in class action cases.
Kaushal Vaddiraj is a trusted economist who specializes in analyzing the competitive effects of proposed M&A transactions and evaluating damages in antitrust litigation. His experience spans several industries and antitrust areas including digital platforms, healthcare, construction, aviation, and petrochemicals. Mr. Vaddiraj analyzes damages involving price fixing, bid rigging, and abuse of market dominance for antitrust matters. He also provides litigation and arbitration support by working with large, complex datasets for statistical and econometric analysis and assisting clients on data requests and responses to plaintiffs and regulatory agencies.
Longxuan Wang provides trusted economic analysis in litigation and advisory matters pertaining to securities and finance and mass torts. He has extensive experience with securities class actions that involve alleged violations of Rule 10b-5, Section 11, Section 14(a), and ERISA laws. He has performed liability forecast analyses in relation to mass torts for a variety of clients including pharmaceutical companies, consumer product companies, and industrial machinery manufacturers. Mr. Wang has worked with clients in various markets and jurisdictions including the US, Canada, Mexico, and China. He has testified at trial in Macau, China, on issues related to an alleged breach of contract.
Paul Arenas specializes in antitrust, market regulation, and finance. He has experience in a variety of industries including financial services, food, digital markets, energy, and telecommunications. Mr. Arenas has provided economic advice and support to businesses and legal advisors on a wide range of antitrust-related projects including cartels and damage quantification, abuse of dominance, market definition, and merger control. He has also participated in the financial analysis and damage quantification in commercial disputes and investment arbitration. Prior to joining NERA, Mr. Arenas was involved in several competition cases, market investigations, and regulatory proceeding before the Peruvian Competition Authority. He previously worked in capital markets, focusing on financial valuation of companies, investment portfolio management, and preparation of investor reports.
Magnus Martinsen works with regulated utilities, investors, and governments to provide rigorous analysis, reports, and advice on the economics of energy markets and regulation to regulators, competition authorities, and arbitration panels. His expertise spans electricity, gas, water, and gambling sectors in jurisdictions including the UK, the EU, the Middle East, and Asia. Mr. Martinsen has worked on issues including market design, network regulation, valuation and due diligence, and power market modeling. He has completed a range of market design assignments in the electricity sector, with a particular focus on the reforms required to facilitate the transition to net zero and the design of ancillary service markets.
Kardin Somme specializes in the energy sector. His work spans regulation and public policy, due diligence, litigation, and international arbitration. In the area of energy regulation and market design, Mr. Somme works with distribution and transmission network companies, generators, and other utilities throughout regulatory processes. He has supported governments and regulators on the design of electricity and gas market rules, including the economics of decarbonized energy systems. He also advises on the design and impact of energy policy, including by providing cost-benefit analysis.