CRA International Economist Plays Key Role in Supreme Court Ruling on Price Floors

CRA International, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRAI), a worldwide leader in providing economic, financial, and management consulting services, today announced the central role played by its Vice President Thomas Overstreet in providing economic justification for the June 28, 2007 Supreme Court decision to overturn a 96-year-old ban on price floors. Dr. Overstreet worked with counsel from Leegin Creative Leather Products, Inc. to draft a Brief for Economists as Amici Curiae (Economists’ Brief) that addressed the question of whether the courts should continue to deem it per se illegal for a manufacturer to enter into vertical agreements with its retailers to set minimum resale prices. The brief reflected input from 23 noted economists, including CRA Founder Franklin M. Fisher, and CRA Senior Consultants G. Franklin Mathewson and Carl Shapiro. The decision in the current case, Leegin Creative Leather Products, Inc. v. PSKS, Inc., dba Kay’s Kloset. . . Kay’s Shoes, No. 06-480, overturned the ruling in Dr. Miles Medical Co. v. John D. Park & Sons Co., 220 U.S. 373 (1911) in which the Supreme Court established the rule that it is per se illegal for manufacturers to set minimum price floors for resellers of their products. In its June 28 decision, the Supreme Court made numerous references to the Economists’ Brief and to a 1983 Staff Report to the Federal Trade Commission written by Dr. Overstreet titled "Resale Price Maintenance: Economic Theories and Empirical Evidence,” in which Dr. Overstreet suggested that vertical price restraints can have either procompetitive or anticompetitive effects. The Court ruled that the per se rule is inappropriate and resale price agreements should be judged by the rule of reason on a case by case basis. "Dr. Overstreet has provided significant thought leadership on issues related to resale price maintenance and antitrust economics for more than two decades,” said James C. Burrows, CRA’s president and chief executive officer. "Tom’s valuable contributions to this landmark decision are evident in the numerous references to his work cited in the Supreme Court ruling.” About CRA Founded in 1965, CRA International is a leading provider of economic and financial expertise and management consulting services. Working with businesses, law firms, accounting firms, and governments, CRA is a preferred consulting firm for complex assignments with pivotal and high-stakes outcomes. The firm is distinguished by a unique combination of credentials: deep vertical experience in a variety of industries; broad horizontal expertise in a range of functional disciplines; and rigorous economic, financial, and market analysis. CRA offers a proven track record of thousands of successful engagements in regulatory and litigation support, business strategy and planning, market and demand forecasting, policy analysis, and engineering and technology management. Headquartered in Boston, the firm has fifteen offices within the United States and ten offices in Canada, Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia Pacific region. Detailed information about CRA is available at www.crai.com.