A lawsuit in which ALSTOM and co-defendants ABB and Siemens were being sued by National Grid in the UK has settled. National Grid first made its claim in 2008, after the European Commission found that ALSTOM, ABB and Siemens had colluded in the delivery of electrical substations involving gas insulated switchgear (GIS) equipment. CRA acted as ALSTOM’s expert witness and produced several expert reports for the Court. These included econometric estimation the extent of the overcharge faced by National Grid, and an analysis of the extent to which any overcharge was passed through to consumers. Had it proceeded to trial, the case was notable also because of the decision by the presiding judge, The Honourable Mr Justice Roth, had decided that expert economists would be giving their evidence concurrently (the so-called “hot-tubbing” format) rather than being cross-examined (the traditional common law method for testing their evidence in chief).
