DeForest McDuff, Ph.D.
Managing Director, Raleigh-Durham, NC
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 919-446-5755
DeForest McDuff, Ph.D. is a consultant and experienced expert witness in economics, business, damages, competition, and other areas. He provides economic analysis that is relied upon by clients, courts, and government agencies to support sound economic decisions. Dr. McDuff has been named as a nationally recognized economic expert in the IAM Patent 1000. He founded Insight Economics in 2017.
Dr. McDuff provides economic consulting and testimony in many areas, such as:
- Damages: lost profits, reasonable royalty, business impact, loss of value;
- Intellectual property: patents, trademarks, trade secrets, copyrights;
- Unfair competition: economic harm, unjust enrichment, false advertising;
- Antitrust: market definition, restraints on competition, competitive impact;
- Economic analysis: irreparable harm, balance of hardships, class certification;
- Other areas: valuation, financial analysis, labor, employment, and more.
Dr. McDuff’s experience includes more than 150 expert reports, 80 depositions, and 30 trials and evidentiary hearings in courts across the country. His experience outside the courtroom includes regulatory analysis, fair market valuation, licensing, negotiation, product launches, strategic analysis, and other topics. He regularly works in the pharmaceutical, medical device, electronic, and software industries, among others.
Dr. McDuff is a teaching professor in the Department of Economics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He earned a Ph.D. in Economics from Princeton University, where he received a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship for his academic research in financial economics and applied microeconomics (awarded to 25 graduate students in economics nationwide each year). Dr. McDuff has published in peer-reviewed academic journals and widely reviewed industry publications. He graduated summa cum laude with bachelor’s degrees in economics and mathematics from the University of Maryland.
Credentials:
- UNC-Chapel Hill, Assistant Teaching Professor, Department of Economics
- Princeton University, Ph.D. in Economics
- University of Maryland, B.A. in Economics, B.S. in Mathematics
What courts say about Dr. McDuff:
What clients say about Dr. McDuff:
Dr. McDuff in the classroom:
Dr. McDuff Named as Nationally Recognized Expert by IAM
The IAM Patent 1000 identifies top expert witnesses for patent analysis nationwide, stating: “Economic analysis often plays a crucial role in IP litigation, whether relating to the question of reasonable efforts in licensing disputes, commercial success in disagreements over patentability or most importantly, the quantum of damages to be paid for lost profits and as a reasonable royalty in infringement suits. Given the importance of patents as business assets and the significant sums at stake in compensation battles, choosing the right expert witness is imperative.”
IAM states: “Head of practice, DeForest McDuff, garners praise for being a “fantastic testifier who is exceedingly skilled and whip smart…He really digs in to present credible cogent analysis that moves the needle…The team at Insight Economics are excellent communicators and highly responsive; they have the ability to handle complex issues and come up with creative solutions.”
DeForest McDuff, Ph.D. Named 2025 Top 25 Patent Damages Expert by CPVA
The Certified Patent Valuation Analyst designation selected DeForest McDuff, Ph.D. as a top expert for his experience in assessing the value of patents and other intellectual property, particularly in litigation and licensing contexts.
This nomination was determined through a robust process and rigorous review of the nominees’ experience, success, and professionalism.