Study of Payment Card Benefits
EI Principal Philip B. Nelson, working with Vice President John M. Gale, Vice President Gale Mosteller, and Principal Stephen E. Siwek, released a new study, “Retailer Payment Systems: Relative Merits of Cash and Payment Cards.” The study analyzes the economic costs and benefits of cash relative to payment cards. It finds that retailers that adopt a cash-only strategy have less revenue, both because they make fewer sales and because those sales are of smaller dollar value. Moreover, merchants incur significant costs associated with handling cash.
Testimony in Employment Discrimination Case
EI Vice President Michael DuMond testified at trial in the matter of Victor Guerrero vs. California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation in the Northern District of California. At issue was whether the Department’s background investigation procedure, which inquired whether job applicants had ever used a different Social Security Number, harmed the employment of Latino correctional officers. Dr. DuMond was retained by the State of California’s Department of Justice. Assisting him in this matter were Vice Presidents Eric Mitchem, Benjamin Shippen, and Wayne Strayer.
Testimony on Class Certification and Monopolization
Dr. William Myslinski, one of EI’s founders, testified in federal court three times this spring. He twice testified in class certification hearings for In Re: Processed Egg Products Antitrust Litigation. In denying class certification for the consumer class of indirect purchasers and the subclass of direct purchasers of egg products, the court repeatedly cited Dr. Myslinski’s testimony. (A class of direct purchasers of shell eggs was certified.) Dr. Myslinski testified on behalf of defendant egg producers and egg processors, who were represented by the law firms of Weil, Gotshal & Manges; Porter Wright; Dechert; Keating, Muething & Klekamp; Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney; Proskauer Rose; Pepper Hamilton; Faegre, Baker, Daniels; and Kasovitz, Benson, Torres and Friedman. Dr. Myslinski also testified in Major Mart, Inc. v. Mitchell Distributing, Inc. and Mitchell Beverage, LLC. Mitchell, an Anheuser-Busch distributor with a 75% market share, was accused of monopolizing and attempting to monopolize beer distribution and tortious interference with business relationships. Dr. Myslinski testified on behalf of Mitchell, which was represented by Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP. The jury found for Mitchell on all counts