Bates White: Economic Consulting

Karl N. Snow has more than 20 years of experience providing financial, economic, and statistical analysis as a consultant, an academic, and a professional in the investment and mortgage banking industries. He has submitted expert reports and provided testimony in federal and state courts on economic damages and asset valuation. He provides consulting advice and expert analysis on a wide range of issues involving financial securities, insurance coverage and valuation, mortgage markets, structured products, hedge funds, contract claims, bankruptcy, and discrimination in mortgage and labor markets.

Prior to joining Bates White, Dr. Snow was a Senior Economist at Welch Consulting in Silver Spring, Maryland. He also served as Principal Economist in the Housing Analysis and Research group at Freddie Mac, and as Director at UBS Investment Bank (formerly UBS Warburg). In addition to his professional experience, Dr. Snow held professorships in the finance departments of the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and the Stockholm School of Economics, and in the economics department at Brigham Young University. Dr. Snow has taught courses and presented workshops on finance and economic topics at academic institutions in Europe and the United States.

Selected Experience

• Submitted expert reports in federal court on the value of various transactions proposed in the reorganization of a bankrupt entity. Analyzed the economic substance of the transactions and valued financial securities that would be created as part of the reorganization including equity, options, and fixed-income securities.
• Submitted an expert report for and testified in federal court on behalf of a Fortune 100 company. Estimated the value of various financial assets and insurance contracts that were proposed to be transferred to a 524(g) trust to cover the asbestos-related liabilities of a bankrupt subsidiary of the corporation.
• Submitted an expert report in state court on damages alleged to have been caused by various employees leaving one corporation for a competitor. Estimated potential damages after controlling for appropriate business and economic factors and analyzed issues related to economic causation.
• Retained as a testifying expert by multiple financial institutions in disputes over the quality of mortgages pooled into various mortgage-backed securities. Providing statistical analysis to estimate the fraction of mortgage loans in the securitized pools that failed to meet the originator’s stated guidelines. Analyzing the underlying risk of the pools and securities, examining loss causation issues, and estimating current damages and future losses.
• Submitted an expert report and testified in state court in a matter involving discrimination in mortgage pricing. Conducted statistical analysis of the impact on prices paid by borrowers in a protected class resulting from the inability of certain loan officers to utilize a pricing program offered by the bank.
• Submitted an expert report for and testified on behalf of an insurance company in a dispute with the policyholder. Demonstrated how the value of not being able to access certain policies to pay future asbestos-related liabilities could be estimated using an option-based approach.
• Acted as lead consultant for multiple insurance companies in valuing insurance policies issued to corporations with asbestos-related liability. Valued the policies under different allocation methodologies, occurrences definitions, and other policy features. Provided both settlement and litigation support.
• Submitted an expert report in federal court in a matter involving claims of wrongful termination. Estimated potential economic damages due to lost wages after accounting for proper mitigation efforts.

Education

PhD, Economics, University of Chicago

MA, Economics, University of Chicago

BA, Economics, Brigham Young University