Consumer Class Action & False Advertising

Econagency provides economic analysis for consumer class actions, including false advertising, labeling, and product liability claims. Depending on the matter, engagements can include analysis of class certification issues, market and pricing analysis, sampling, damages and exposure models, and evaluation of opposing expert analyses.

Mr. Buchanan’s case experience includes false advertising and product liability matters, such as “all natural” claims and allegations that a product is not working as advertised. He has performed economic analyses in consumer matters involving cosmetics, homeopathic products, consumer electronics, and automobiles.

False Advertising and Labeling Claims

• Performed economic analysis of the cosmetics market, using existing surveys and empirical data to determine what characteristics are important to buyers and whether those characteristics are uniform.
• Performed economic analysis, including rebuttal of an opposing expert, in false advertising matters regarding homeopathic products.
• Examined alleged deceptive claims about battery life from an economic perspective, including industry analysis of computer features and pricing, along with sampling and other economic analysis.

Product Liability Claims

• Analyzed a proposed consumer class action regarding alleged brake and “piston slap” issues involving a major automotive company.
• Statistically analyzed the failure rate of water pipes, merging data on actual installations, scheduled replacements, emergency repairs, and broken pipes.

Class-Wide Exposure Modeling

Mr. Buchanan has analyzed transactions and their characteristics that may result in exposure, including a nationwide analysis of every store that accounted for unique characteristics that changed over time, with alleged damages modeled under multiple scenarios.

Selected Matters

• Kim Allen et al. v. Hyland’s Inc. and Enzo Forcellati et al. v. Hyland’s Inc. — U.S. District Court, Central District of California
• Lauren Hall v. Welch Foods, Inc. and The Promotion in Motion Companies — U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York
• General Motors Corporation “Piston Slap” product liability litigation — MDL 04-1600
• AARP v. Kramer Lead Marketing Group — U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida
• Westgate Resorts, Ltd. v. Reed Hein & Associates d/b/a Timeshare Exit Team — U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida

This page describes the types of analysis Econagency offers, with examples drawn from Mr. Buchanan’s curriculum vitae. The analysis appropriate to any matter depends on its facts, the available data, and the questions at issue. Nothing on this page is an opinion about any particular case.