BRG Launches Digital Economy and Platform Markets Practice

New group will be led by one of the world’s leading testifying experts on digital economy matters alongside award-winning antitrust economists to address disputes and industry-wide challenges 

As the digital transformation sweeps through the traditional economy, BRG announced today that it has launched a Digital Economy and Platform Markets practice composed of the world’s foremost digital economy and platform markets experts.

Led by Dr. David Evans, one of the top testifying experts on matters involving the digital economy and platform markets, the practice will work with the world’s leading law firms, advise digital businesses and work with international and US government agencies like the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice. The practice’s services will span platform economics and big data and will help clients across sectors including online media and advertising, e-commerce, delivery and logistics, online payments and financial services, software platforms and apps, online gaming, transportation and travel, blockchain and cryptocurrency, emerging technology and infrastructure.

Dr. Rosa (Romy) Abrantes-Metz and Dr. Richard Schmalensee, top experts in platform economics and digital businesses, will join the group alongside Evans. BRG Executive Chairman Dr. David Teece, a professor at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, will support on select client matters.

“In the past decade, the digital economy has been growing more than twice as fast as physical-world GDP—creating complex disputes in areas ranging from antitrust and mergers to consumer protection, employment, securities, bankruptcy and the application and development of new regulatory regimes,” said Evans. “To resolve these disputes, global businesses will need a diverse group of future-looking digital economy experts and leading-edge data analytics capabilities. That’s what we’ve built at BRG. I couldn’t be more proud to lead the most experienced practice in the market dedicated to these issues.”

BRG’s global team has consulted and testified in the United States, European Union, China, South Korea and other jurisdictions. The practice will staff cases with top economic scholars, subject-matter specialists and data scientists with experience handling massive databases. In addition to those named above, BRG experts John Blair, Thomas Brown, Richard Finkelman, Dr. Steven Gawthorpe, Eric Matrejek, Dr. Albert Metz, Bradley Mirkin, Walter Mix, Ron Schnell and Amy Worley will support the practice’s clients in matters involving data privacy, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, sanctions, risk modeling, cybersecurity and disruptive technology, among others.

Taken together, these experts have served on matters involving most of the world’s large digital platforms and across almost all major products and services provided by digital businesses. They have also written award-winning and oft-cited books and articles on platform economics and regularly appear in global media outlets like CNN, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Economist, Financial Times, Sky News, Bloomberg and more.

BRG is particularly well equipped to support clients in matters involving platform markets. Courts and regulators around the world increasingly recognize the importance of platform economics in understanding—and deciding—the matters before them when multisided businesses are involved. BRG is uniquely qualified for this work given that members of its team have led the development of the platform economics field over the last 20 years, particularly in its application to law and regulation.

The firm’s investments in data analytics will be critical as well. Analyzing issues in digital economy cases often requires managing massive datasets and providing highly elastic computing power for data analytics and econometric modeling. BRG’s extensive analytical capabilities will enable the team to analyze billions of transactions and bring economic analysis and big data to inform decisions around disputes. BRG’s data science work also includes building AI and machine learning models to support specific case activities.

Commenting on the significance of the practice’s launch, Teece said, “This is a pivotal moment for our firm. We’ve brought the world’s most distinguished experts together to launch our new practice, which is exceptionally positioned to handle the most sophisticated and high-profile work related to the digital economy. What’s more, we expect to add to this team with hires in key European markets in the months to come. The value, experience and reach of this practice will be unmatched. I’m eager to work alongside them.”