David S. Evans

David Sparks Evans (born 1954) is the chairman of the Global Economics Group in the firm’s Boston office, and has broad experience in the economics of antitrust, intellectual property, and financial regulation. Evans has an international practice and has worked on matters in the United States, the European Union, China, Brazil, Australia, and other jurisdictions. He has provided economic advice on a wide range of industries but has special expertise in financial services, internet-based, media, and information-technology based businesses. He is one of the world’s leading authorities on platform-based (“two-sided market”) businesses.

Evans has worked on mergers, monopolization, abuse of dominance, and joint venture cases in multiple jurisdictions. A number of his matters have involved the intersection of antitrust and intellectual property and the antitrust of information technology/on-line businesses. His representative matters have included:

Evans has worked on regulatory matters involving payment systems, consumer financial protection, derivatives regulation, and the regulation of exchanges. His representative matters have included:

In the mid-2000's, Evans and his wife, Karen L. Webster, were chairman and managing director respectively, of the now defunct eSapience public relations firm of Cambridge, MA. Karen Webster also is the founder of pymnts.com. An article on boston.com on March 10, 2007, quotes eSapience's website, which was live at the time, as describing itself as '"not merely a public relations firm, but a "new media and research entity that shapes the debate on issues that intersect law, economics, and policy" through "a global network of academics and other public intellectuals."' One of eSapience's clients was Maurice "Hank" Greenberg, former president of the American Insurance Group, Inc., (AIG), who was forced out as chairman and chief executive in 2005 by AIG's directors. The directors did this after then Attorney General Eliot Spitzer of New York brought charges of fraud and other violations against Greenberg. eSapience was hired by Greenberg to create a branding campaign for him.

On March 10, 2007, the Boston Globe reported on the lawsuit that eSapience filed against Greenberg's company, New York investment firm C.V. Starr & Co., for allegedly refusing to pay $2 million in bills from the image campaign for which eSapience was hired. Several other publications covered the legal dispute, focusing on the ethical use of academics, such as Evans and Richard Schmalensee, dean of MIT's Sloan School of Management, in this rebranding campaign. On March 12, 2007, the New Republic reported on the lawsuit, with the subheadline: "How a shady, right-wing p.r. firmed tried to buy academic influence." Other media outlets, such as The Financial Times, the Daily Kos, HCRenewal Blog, Harpers Magazine on Washington, to name a few, covered the issue.

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