Expert witness shares courtroom stories
Noted economist Jon L. Solow, this year’s Weiss Lecturer at Skidmore, will be on campus Thursday, Oct. 20, at 7 p.m., in Gannett Auditorium, to share his experiences as an expert witness in major court cases. He will also meet with Skidmore students before the lecture, which is free and open to the public. The title of his lecture is “Economist in Court: Reflections of an Expert Witness.”
Solow has served as an expert witness in major federal anti-trust cases, at both the hearing and trial stages. He has testified on the economic aspects of anti-trust, price-fixing and collusion in cases that have involved the pharmaceutical, tobacco, and chemical industries. He has also been called in as a witness for hearings leading up to major mergers, such as those involving airlines and pharmaceutical companies, and for adjudication relating to price fixing of products and services ranging from contact lenses to college educations. The problems he engages in, Solow explained, usually come down to creating a lack of competition and causing financial harm.
In addition to delivering the Weiss Lecture, Solow will speak with students about the many career paths open to them after studying economics. “Whether it’s a role in business, law, teaching, or sports, most significant undertakings have finances at their core,” he said. “There are plenty of exciting opportunities for those who have a strong knowledge of economics.”
He added that those who are successful at serving as expert witnesses must delve deeply into issues in order to be valued for their research and studied opinions. “If you’re seen as simply a ‘hired gun’ for one side or the other, you won’t be called back very often,” he said. “True economists add value to almost any negotiation or court case today.”
A professor and chair of economics in the University of Iowa’s Tippie School of Business, Solow holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from Stanford and a B.A. in economics from Yale.
The prestigious biennial William E. Weiss Lecture, sponsored by Skidmore’s Economics Department, is made possible with the assistance of former trustee Arturo Peralta-Ramos III, a member of Skidmore’s Class of 1974. Named in honor of his stepfather, the lecture series fosters discussion of contemporary economic issues and the role of economics in all aspects of life.
