What Turns Economic Analysis into Courtroom Clarity

In an increasingly complex world where legal, business, and policy decisions are shaped by vast amounts of data and competing interests, economic reasoning remains a powerful tool for understanding incentives, evaluating trade-offs, and guiding strategic choices.

Drawing from her experience as a testifying economist, Dr Shireen Meer, Director, Berkeley Research Group talks about the critical role economics plays not only in high-stakes legal disputes but also in everyday decision-making.

Dr. Shireen is a testifying economic expert specializing in litigation and consulting. She provides expert testimony, authors reports, and conducts complex analyses across antitrust, contract disputes, and regulatory matters, with recognition in Who’s Who Legal Competition.

In conversation with Team Global Woman Leader, Shireen emphasizes the importance of translating complex economic models into clear, accessible narratives that resonate with diverse audiences. Whether explaining sophisticated concepts through familiar examples, validating findings through data triangulation and benchmarking, or tailoring communication to judges, juries, academics, or business leaders, she underscores the value of clarity alongside analytical rigor. She also explores how economic thinking helps decision-makers interpret evidence more critically by focusing on incentives, opportunity costs, strategic responses, and causal relationships.

Beyond her insights on economics and decision-making, Meer offers practical advice for women seeking to build successful careers in economic consulting, policy analysis, and expert testimony. She stresses the importance of continuous learning, meaningful networking, and confident self-advocacy as essential pillars for establishing credibility, influence, and long-term professional growth.

Read the full interview below. 

Team GWL: From your experience as a testifying economist, how do you see economic thinking shaping high-stakes decision-making today?

Shireen Meer: My world view is highly biased because I believe that, knowingly or unknowingly, we all respond to economic incentives. It is my belief that economics plays an outsized role not just in high-stakes decision-making but pretty much in every person’s life. With respect to economic analysis in legal disputes, it shapes high-stakes decision making in the sense that organizations, whether private or public, are attuned to the legal process and outcomes of disputes. To the extent that economic analysis is the underpinning of a legal outcome, entities would learn and change internal decision-making in response.

A simple and well-known (in economic circles) example is that of treble damages in antitrust violations in the U.S. legal system.

The whole idea behind treble damages is to disincentive firms from committing antitrust violations such as price fixing. Firms are engaged in cost benefit analysis and since it’s the objective of private firms to profit maximize, firms decide whether the benefit from a violation (e.g., antitrust or intellectual property) exceeds the costs (legal outcomes such as fines, injunctions etc.).

Team GWL: When complex economic models enter courtrooms and hearings, you often translate technical analysis into clear arguments. How do you approach turning rigorous data into persuasive economic narratives?

Shireen Meer: The type of work we do can sometimes rest on very technical models and analyses. In my view it is essential to be able to communicate with an audience that likely does not have the same training as I do. To achieve that, I try to focus on the right choice of words. In practice this means trying to explain new ideas using something that the audience already understands. For example, if I want to explain the concept of benchmarking, I could draw from real estate which is a more familiar concept. Most people are aware that homes are valued based on values of comparable homes and this is a benchmarking exercise. I can then use this familiar reference to introduce an unfamiliar concept. Also, I find that visual aids can be helpful because sometimes a graph or a chart can explain relationships and outcomes better than words can.

Team GWL: In disputes across sectors like healthcare, banking, and technology, economic signals can be complex or conflicting. How do you determine which data points truly reveal the underlying market reality?

Shireen Meer: A critical part of our work is verifying outcomes of any models that we build. The economic framework emphasizes questioning and validating data. We achieve that by triangulating data as much as possible and also by benchmarking against comparables.

Team GWL:  ​As data analytics and statistical tools become more advanced, economic testimony is becoming highly technical. How do you maintain analytical rigor while ensuring your insights remain clear and compelling?

Shireen Meer:  Analytical rigor is maintained by staying abreast of latest research in the development and application of various analytical models and frameworks.  Translating the results into clear and compelling insights requires an understanding of who the audience is. An understanding of the audience helps to tailor the message accordingly. For example, if a piece of writing is for academics, it can be technical. If instead, it is for a trade publication, then it makes sense to focus less on mechanics and more on applications. As mentioned earlier, if the audience is a jury, then it also makes sense to stay away from technical jargon and lay the groundwork with familiar concepts.

Team GWL:  From your perspective, how can economic reasoning help leaders interpret evidence more critically when navigating complex strategic choices?

Shireen Meer:  Not all choices are made based on economic reasoning alone. For example, sometimes welfare implications outweigh economic benefits. Having said that, economic reasoning provides a framework for approaching any problem. It helps leaders to analyze incentives and determine what incentives are driving behavior, to analyze tradeoffs (weigh costs vs. benefits) and this enables an understanding of causal mechanisms. Economics also emphasizes thinking about marginal analysis e.g. whether additional investment would improve outcomes/returns. Economic reasoning highlights opportunity costs and thus encourages thinking about foregone options (the option not selected). Further, economics provides ways to think about strategic responses from e.g., rivals. Economics can quantify uncertainty which is also central to decision-making. Economics can help identify bias by examining data sources. Summarily, economics provides a framework that, if employed, can assist leaders in complex decision making.

LAST WORD: Advice would suggest for building credibility and influence over time

Shireen Meer:  It helps to be intentional about actions that women can take to build a successful career over time in these fields. I will divide them into three broad categories: 1) education; 2) networking; and 3) self-advocacy.

With respect to education, I would suggest women who are interested in these fields is to pursue an advanced degree. It does not mean that without an advanced degree, one can’t be successful. However, as these fields are becoming more competitive, having an advanced degree acts as a signal of credibility. Also, if applicable, being involved in thought leadership via speaking or writing opportunities builds credibility. With respect to networking, there is internal (to firm or whatever ecosystem one is operating in) networking and there is external networking. Both types of networking are important, and women should start to think about it early on in their careers. Within firm, it helps to have someone you can observe and learn from. It doesn’t have to be a formal or a labeled relationship – I feel sometimes trying to label or establish formal relationships can be a hurdle instead of being helpful. Also, internal networking will help to build relationships that can, down the road, act as your sponsors and help support your career development. External networking is important because it doesn’t really matter what field you choose, once you advance on a career path, eventually there is an aspect of selling involved, whether it’s selling ideas, selling services, selling products. The way to start is by getting involved in professional organizations and interest groups.

Finally, self-advocacy is important because as women, we tend to downplay ourselves and our achievements. Women must overcome these internal instincts and realize that it is not boastful or immodest to highlight our accomplishments – it is necessary so we can get credit for our achievements and we are operating in a world where others around are doing it so we are doing ourselves and our careers a disservice by keeping our heads down and hoping to get noticed.