The people at IIC, Inc. are what set us apart from other consulting firms. We have a dedicated group of energetic individuals who understand the complexities and nuances of the world of business and economics and take great pride in the quality of the work that they do for our clients. Our staff of seven professionals together with our small size and diverse interests enable us to provide creative solutions to our clients' problems, each tailored to meet their individual needs. We add value to our clients' business and activities by enabling them to understand complex principles and how they apply in the everyday world. Our three principals have over 70 years of collective expertise in research, analysis, and consulting and yet they enthusiastically immerse themselves in each project they work on, learning the details, creating solutions, and presenting the results with the assistance of a diverse and intelligent group of analysts.

Peter K. Ashton
Peter K. Ashton has consulted to numerous public and private sector clients on various litigation, tax, and regulatory issues. His primary areas of expertise are in the energy, services, and high technology industries. He has been involved in a large number of cases as an economic expert, providing testimony on issues related to the computation of damages, valuation of assets and commodities, statistical studies, regulatory issues, and antitrust matters. Mr. Ashton has authored numerous articles and reports and given speeches to a wide variety of audiences.

Prior to founding IIC, Inc., Mr. Ashton was a senior consultant at Putnam, Hayes, & Bartlett, Inc. and a senior research associate at Charles River Associates Incorporated. Mr. Ashton received an A.B. degree in economics and government from Colby College and an M.I.A. degree from the School of International Affairs and Public Policy at Columbia University. Mr. Ashton is a member of the American Economic Association and the Southern Economic Association.

Mary Ann Buescher
Mary Ann Buescher is a principal with IIC, Inc. who has specialized in methods of utilizing computers in the office and improving productivity through cost-effective implementation of technology solutions and personalized training. Ms. Buescher is experienced in analyzing emerging technologies and has designed tools to measure the costs and benefits of technology implementation and to assess improvements in productivity in a variety of industries. She has managed data collection and database analysis efforts for a number of clients. Her clients include small firms, a variety of law firms, municipalities and other government entities, and the federal government.

Prior to founding IIC, Inc., Ms. Buescher was a manager with Putnam, Hayes & Bartlett, Inc. and Charles River Associates Incorporated. She holds an Honors A.B. degree in English and classical languages from Xavier University, and has completed graduate work in journalism at Boston University.

Lee O. Upton III
Lee O. Upton III, a principal of IIC, Inc., has managed data collection and financial and economic modeling efforts for a number of clients. He specializes in performing economic and statistical analyses pertaining to the analysis of various industries, and has performed numerous valuation studies. He is proficient in the analysis of industrial market behavior and the computation of damages in antitrust and other types of cases. He has also developed and used large transaction-related databases and applied these in the evaluation of pricing behavior and the development of damages models. Mr. Upton has managed a large-scale data collection effort, focusing on crude oil pricing, and worked extensively on a study of the consumer finance industry.

Mr. Upton holds a B.S. in physics from Wake Forest University, and a master's degree in physics from Emory University.

Research Assistants
Research Assistants are a valuable part of our staff at IIC, Inc. Our research assistants perform a variety of functions for our assignments. These activities include on-line and library research; review and analysis of transactional and financial data; litigation support activities such as review and coding of documents; preparation of graphic and other materials for reports and client presentations; and work with spreadsheets and other statistical and modeling tools. We typically hire research assistants who are recent college graduates of excellent schools, and work with them to provide them with the tools they need to flourish in our environment and be productive assets for our clients. We typically have two research assistants who work on numerous types of assignments at the same time.