Global expert services firm LECG announced that noted antitrust authority Michael A. Salinger, former chief economist at the Federal Trade Commission and professor of economics at the Boston University School of Management, has joined the firm as a managing director in its Cambridge, Massachusetts office.

Dr. Salinger, 50, departed the FTC at the end of June after serving two years as director of the Bureau of Economics, overseeing some 70 PhD economists and additional professional staff. A respected authority on vertical relationships, tying and many others aspects of antitrust economics, Dr. Salinger was the key interface between the Bureau of Economics and the Chairman of the Commission and the other Commissioners. He managed the Bureau's interaction with the Bureaus of Competition and Consumer Protection, ensuring that the Bureau of Economics provided the Commission's legal bureaus with the economic analysis needed to accomplish their missions. Through speeches, articles and Congressional testimony, he was also the public face of the bureau.

At the time of Dr. Salinger's reported departure a month ago, FTC Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras praised the outgoing chief economist for ?his excellent service and outstanding achievements,? adding that the Commission had ?benefited greatly from his expertise and insight.?

Under Dr. Salinger's leadership, the Bureau of Economics produced important new research in such areas as the transparency of housing loan disclosures to consumers and food companies' targeted advertising to children. Two industries that drew particular attention by the Bureau under Dr. Salinger were petroleum and pharmaceuticals.

Dr. Salinger played a major role in the FTC's investigation into possible price gouging and other questionable behavior following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. In speeches and in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, he argued forcefully that attempts to manage markets with price gouging legislation would interfere with proper market functions and would inevitably lead to shortages during emergencies.

According to LECG founder David Teece, "Michael Salinger is a superbly credentialed and experienced applied economist with multidisciplinary capabilities. His expertise spans many industries and covers a broad spectrum of the social sciences including antitrust economics, quantitative methods, managerial economics, and finance. Anyone who follows antitrust issues knows Michael Salinger and his writings on vertical relationships, as well as his recent pioneering work on the economics of tying and bundling ? he is a genuine rock star in our field.?

Janet McDavid, a prominent antitrust attorney and partner with Hogan & Hartson LLP in Washington, said of Dr. Salinger's move, ?LECG is lucky to get Mike. He's a very talented and well-respected economist with excellent experience at the FTC. On top of that, he's a very nice guy and a pleasure to work with.?

Although he tackles some of the thorniest aspects of market economics, Dr. Salinger regularly adds a touch of panache to his writings. A recent chapter in a book about antitrust is entitled ?Curing Sinus Headaches and Tying Law: An Empirical Analysis of Bundling Decongestants and Pain Relievers.? He has also used insights from Michael Lewis's best-selling book about baseball economics ? Moneyball ? to explain the folly of prohibitions on price gouging.

Professor Salinger joins a deep global team of antitrust experts at LECG who have handled many of the most important recent multi-jurisdictional antitrust cases and merger clearance reviews. LECG fields antitrust experts in many offices throughout the U.S., Europe, South America, and Asia/Pacific.

?We are extraordinarily fortunate to have Mike join our group,? said Dr. David S. Evans, who heads the firm's global antitrust practice. ?Our clients, worldwide, will gain tremendously from his deep knowledge of mergers, unilateral effects, and other antitrust areas.?

LECG is regularly called on for analysis and opinion on matters related to merger review, antitrust liability, certification of antitrust class actions, and antitrust damages quantification. Its experts frequently appear before major regulatory agencies worldwide, courts, and international tribunals. In addition to providing competition policy advice and testimony, LECG experts have been at the forefront of research on antitrust laws and economics.

?When I look at LECG, I see a roster of world-class economists, such as David Teece, Dick Schmalensee, Ben Klein, Mark Schankerman, and of course one of my FTC predecessors, David Scheffman,? Dr. Salinger said. ?They have produced cutting-edge research and shown a keen sense of what approaches and theories in the world of academia are ready for prime time policy implementation. It is an honor to have been invited to join this team, led by my occasional collaborator and co-author, David Evans.?

Dr. Salinger will divide his time between LECG and Boston University, where he joined the faculty in 1990 and was recently named an Everett W. Lord Distinguished Faculty Scholar. He served as chair of the Finance and Economics Department from 2000-2004. Previously, he taught economics at Columbia University's Graduate School of Business (1982-1990). In 1985-6, he took a leave from Columbia to be a staff economist in the FTC's Bureau of Economics, the organization he later came to lead.

Dr. Salinger received his Ph.D. in Economics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1982 and his B.A. magna cum laude in economics from Yale University in 1978.

About LECG

LECG is a global expert services firm with over 1000 experts and professionals in 33 offices around the world. The firm provides independent expert testimony, original authoritative studies, and strategic advisory services to clients including Fortune Global 500 corporations, major law firms, and local, state, and federal governments and agencies. LECG's experts and professional staff conduct economic and financial analyses to provide objective opinions and advice that help resolve complex disputes and inform legislative, judicial, regulatory, and business decision makers. LECG's experts are renowned academics, former senior government officials, experienced industry leaders, and seasoned consultants. NASDAQ: XPRT. For more, visit www.lecg.com.

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