Charles River Associates Acquires U.K.-Based Forensic Litigation Firm Lee & Allen; Acquisition Expands CRA's Opportunities in Continental Europe; Strengthens U.K. Operations.

BOSTON -- Charles River Associates Incorporated (NASDAQ: CRAI), an internationally known leader in providing economic, financial, and management consulting services, today announced its acquisition of Lee & Allen Consulting Limited, a London-based consulting firm offering financial dispute resolution and forensic accounting services to the corporate, legal, and regulatory markets. The acquisition will add approximately 40 consultants to CRA's roster.

Under the terms of the agreement, CRA acquired Lee & Allen for a purchase price of approximately GBP 8.3 million (approximately US$15.8 million), consisting of GBP 6.3 million (US$12.0 million) in cash and GBP 2.0 million (US$3.8 million) in loan notes to be exchanged for restricted shares of CRA stock. Additional purchase consideration may be payable if specific performance targets are met. In addition to its corporate headquarters in London, Lee & Allen maintains an office in Hong Kong. Lee & Allen recorded revenues of approximately GBP 7.1 million (US$13.5 million) during calendar year 2004. CRA expects the acquisition to be accretive in the first full quarter of combined operations.

"CRA's acquisition of Lee & Allen provides us with opportunities to expand further into continental Europe while addressing our corporate goal of boosting the performance of our London operation," said James C. Burrows, CRA's President and Chief Executive Officer. "Lee & Allen adds to our consulting ranks some of Europe's most highly regarded forensic accountants and strengthens our core competencies in estimation of commercial damages and in valuation in this rapidly growing market. David Lee and Tim Allen have built their company into one of Europe's premier firms specializing in these disciplines. We look forward to the firm's contributions as part of the CRA consulting family."

David Lee, Chairman of Lee & Allen, said, "Lee & Allen has long been recognized for its expertise across several disciplines and for providing top-quality consulting services to its clients - traits our firm shares with CRA. The strong cultural fit that we believe exists between the two organizations should enable seamless integration and allow the Lee & Allen team to hit the ground running as part of CRA."

Tim Allen, Managing Director of Lee & Allen, said, "Lee & Allen is Europe's largest specialist firm of chartered accountants in the financial dispute resolution services sector. Our team of experts represents a perfect complement to CRA's existing consultant base. We offer CRA a distinct opportunity to build its go-to-market value proposition through the addition of our highly specialized consulting staff."

About CRA

Founded in 1965, Charles River Associates is an economics, finance, and business consulting firm that works with businesses, law firms, accounting firms, and governments in providing a wide range of services. CRA combines economic and financial analysis with expertise in litigation and regulatory support, business strategy and planning, market and demand forecasting, policy analysis, and engineering and technology management. The firm is distinguished by a corporate philosophy of providing responsive, top-quality consulting; an interdisciplinary team approach; unsurpassed economic, financial, and other analytic skills; and pragmatic business insights. In addition to its corporate headquarters in Boston and international offices in Brussels, Canberra, Dubai, Hong Kong, London, Melbourne, Mexico City, Sydney, Toronto, and Wellington, CRA also has U.S. offices in Cambridge, Chicago, College Station, Dallas, Houston, New York, Oakland, Pasadena, Philadelphia, Salt Lake City, Silicon Valley, and Washington, D.C. Detailed information about CRA can be found at www.crai.com.

Statements in this press release concerning the expected benefits from CRA's acquisition of Lee & Allen are "forward-looking" statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are based on management's current expectations and are subject to a number of factors and uncertainties. Information contained in these forward-looking statements is inherently uncertain, and actual performance and results may differ materially. Such factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking statements made by the Company include, among others, difficulties in integrating Lee & Allen's personnel into CRA's existing operations, undisclosed or unanticipated expenses or liabilities associated with the acquisition, the potential loss of clients, the potential loss of key personnel, the difficulty of attracting and retaining qualified

consultants, dependence on outside experts, intense competition, and professional liability. Further information on these and other potential factors that could affect the Company's financial results is included in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. CRA undertakes no obligation to update any of its forward-looking statements after the date of this press release.