Stephanie Chapman Weishaar has extensive experience conducting sophisticated survey analysis in complex litigation, regulatory investigations and proceedings, and consumer class actions. As a member of Cornerstone Research’s Applied Research Center, Dr. Weishaar supports clients and leads case teams in designing and analyzing survey questionnaires and qualitative studies, and in developing conjoint and survey rebuttals and affirmative survey arguments.
Dr. Weishaar consults with counsel on survey objectives, assists case teams in developing questionnaires, and shares best practices for testing, implementation, and analysis. She is experienced in conducting qualitative studies, including developing study design and approaches. In addition, Dr. Weishaar researches emerging trends in the field of survey research and designs new tools and techniques for use in litigation.
Surveys
In her previous roles as a consultant at Cornerstone Research, Dr. Weishaar worked on various types of surveys in multiple litigation contexts. Spanning numerous industries, her experience includes:
- Online consumer surveys to assess consumer substitution patterns across music streaming services in royalty-setting proceedings
- Online consumer surveys to evaluate the relative importance of product attributes and patented features in intellectual property litigation
- Telephone-based surveys of hard-to-reach consumers to quantify grey market purchases in ongoing mediation
- Internal company and third-party surveys to inform market definition, consumer purchase reasons, and consumer satisfaction in regulatory investigations and in antitrust and product liability consumer class actions, including Javier Cardenas et al. v. Toyota Motor Corp. et al.
Consumer class actions
Dr. Weishaar has worked on prominent consumer class actions involving allegations of false advertising, product misrepresentation or omission, product defects, and antitrust violations. In In re General Motors LLC Ignition Switch Litigation, she designed, conducted, and evaluated consumer surveys to assess the purchase factors and information sources that drive consumer decisions. Dr. Weishaar also assessed the use of conjoint surveys and conjoint analysis methods in Javier Cardenas et al. v. Toyota Motor Corp. et al., measuring economic harm and damages to a class due to alleged product misrepresentations or omissions.
Labor and discrimination
Across a diverse range of cases, Dr. Weishaar has consulted on issues arising in labor and employment matters. For example, she analyzed the potential procompetitive benefits of no-poach clauses in franchise agreements in multiple matters, including in Deslandes et al. v. McDonald’s USA LLC et al.
Pro bono
In Brown et al. v. Madison County, Mississippi, Dr. Weishaar analyzed the location of roadblocks and other actions taken by the police to evaluate the extent of racial discrimination in policing by the Madison County Sherriff’s Department.