Dina Older Aguilar coheads Cornerstone Research’s healthcare practice. Ms. Older Aguilar specializes in economic analyses of class certification, liability, and damages issues, as well as merger evaluations. Her work spans antitrust and competition, consumer fraud, product liability, and intellectual property matters. In addition to healthcare, her industry expertise includes agriculture, biotechnology, financial services, high technology, and transportation. She has served as the head of Cornerstone Research’s San Francisco office.
Lexology Direct (formerly Who’s Who Legal) has recognized Ms. Older Aguilar as a leading competition economist and a leader among commercial litigation practitioners. Women@Competition named her among forty notable women professionals in their forties, one of only four economists to be recognized.
Healthcare
Ms. Older Aguilar consults on competition matters involving healthcare payors and providers, including:
- Claims of horizontal conspiracy
- Alleged exclusionary behavior
- Claims of unfair business practices
- Healthcare organization mergers
She recently worked on USA v. Cabell Huntington Hospital Inc. and St. Mary’s Medical Center Inc., a hospital merger that culminated in the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) dropping its challenge and allowing the transaction to proceed.
Ms. Older Aguilar has assessed issues of common impact at the class certification stage, and damages related to breach of contract, patent infringement, and other claims. She has also assessed hospital-billing practices, self-insurance plans, and drivers of healthcare expenditures.
Antitrust and competition
Ms. Older Aguilar assesses liability and damages in complex competition litigation, particularly in cases related to alleged price fixing, joint boycott and other cartel behavior, monopolization, exclusionary conduct, and unfair business practices. She has consulted on a number of high-profile antitrust cases, including:
- In re Cigarette Antitrust Litigation
- Carbon Black, Rubber Chemicals, and EPDM (Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer) Antitrust Matters
- Rambus Inc. v. Micron Technology Inc. et al.
- In re: Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) Antitrust Litigation
Merger reviews
Ms. Older Aguilar has assessed the competitive impact of mergers in agriculture, healthcare, media, and telecommunications markets. She consults to merging parties in prescreening transactions, and in preparing white paper analyses and expert report submissions to federal and state regulatory agencies. She has also provided economic consulting to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Consumer fraud and product liability class actions
Ms. Older Aguilar has expertise in assessments of consumer decision-making, purchasing behavior, and impact of alleged fraud on product pricing. These include analyses of sales and pricing data, content analysis of marketing communications, and consumer surveys. Ms. Older Aguilar has consulted on matters in the personal computing, consumer finance, and automotive industries.
Damages analyses and expert testimony
Ms. Older Aguilar assesses damages in a range of matters involving alleged unfair business practices, violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), theft of trade secrets, and patent infringement. Her work in this area includes Monsanto Co. v. E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co.
As an expert witness, Ms. Older Aguilar analyzed the potential anticompetitive effects of certain labor contract provisions, and damages due to an alleged breach of contract between a large manufacturer and its supplier.
Presentations and publications
Ms. Older Aguilar regularly speaks at ABA and other trade and academic sponsored events. She has written several articles and coauthored the chapter on economic expert testimony in Proof of Conspiracy under Federal Antitrust Laws.
Pro bono
Ms. Older Aguilar is involved with the firm’s pro bono initiatives. In 2019, she was a joint recipient of the Robert G. Sproul Jr. Award, which the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area presents annually for contributions to underrepresented communities.
Pro Bono: Latinos in the United States: Overcoming Legal Obstacles, Engaging in Civic Life
Cornerstone Research Staff and Affiliated Experts Submit Comments on the Joint FTC-DOJ Draft Merger Guidelines
- Pro Bono: Latinos in the United States: Overcoming Legal Obstacles, Engaging in Civic Life
- Pro Bono: Criminal Record Expungement Policy
- Sidibe et al. v. Sutter Health
- Theft of Trade Secrets regarding Physician Networks
- Hospital Pricing Challenged in Class Action
- Oscar Insurance Company of Florida v. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, Inc. et al.
- USA v. Cabell Huntington Hospital Inc. and St. Mary’s Medical Center Inc.
- Inline Packaging LLC v. Graphic Packaging International Inc.
- Pro Bono: LCCRSF Investigation into School Discipline Policies
- Alleged Unintended Acceleration and Brake Defects in Automobiles
- Analysis of Consulting Services to Self-Insured Student Health Plan
- In re Cigarette Antitrust Litigation
- Benefits Offered by Early Versions of a High-Technology Product
- Class Action Related to Discounting of Prices in Healthcare Products and Services
|
|
|
|