Charles River Associates Announces Resignation of Chief Financial Officer; Names Phil Cooper Interim CFO.

Business Editors

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 3, 2002

Charles River Associates Incorporated (Nasdaq: CRAI), an internationally known leader in providing economic, financial, and management consulting services, today announced that it has named J. Phillip Cooper, CRA's Executive Vice President, as Interim Chief Financial Officer. Michael J. Tubridy has resigned, effective immediately, as the Company's chief financial officer to pursue personal interests.

"We wish to thank Mike for his contributions to CRA since his arrival in September 2001 and extend him our best wishes for the future," said James C. Burrows, CRA's president and chief executive officer. "In the past year, CRA has completed a significant acquisition and continued its record of growth despite the difficult economic conditions. New financial controls have been instrumental in improving the management processes at CRA."

"The scope of Phil Cooper's leadership responsibilities has steadily grown since his arrival in 2000," stated Burrows. "In addition to working closely with finance on many of our operational initiatives, he has played a key role in shaping our strategic direction. Phil has the experience to ensure a smooth transition in the CFO role while we search for a permanent replacement."

Background on J. Phillip Cooper:

J. Phillip Cooper has served as CRA's executive vice president since February 2001 and has led CRA's acquisition of several consulting practices, including, most recently, the former Chemicals and Energy consulting practice of Arthur D. Little. Dr. Cooper served as CRA's vice president of corporate development from May 2000 to February 2001. Prior to joining CRA in May 2000, Dr. Cooper actively consulted to emerging businesses, leading a number of entrepreneurial and change-management business ventures. For example, from November 1996 to July 1997, he served as chief executive officer of Newstar Technologies, Inc., a Canadian e-commerce, banking and real estate software company. Previously, among other positions, Phil was EVP of McGraw-Hill's Standard & Poor's Corp., heading an online data/software/services sector, including Data Resources ("DRI") and, previously, SVP/GM of Interactive Data Corp. ("IDC"), then owned by Chase Manhattan Bank. He began his career as an Assistant Professor at the University of Chicago, Graduate School of Business, in Business Economics and Finance. Dr. Cooper received his Ph.D. in economics and finance from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1972.

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 regulation 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, London, Melbourne, Mexico City, Toronto, and Wellington, CRA also has U.S. offices in College Station, Houston, Los Angeles, Oakland, Palo Alto, Philadelphia, Salt Lake City, and Washington, D.C. More information about the Company can be found on its Web site at www.crai.com.

Safe Harbor Statement:

Statements in this press release concerning CRA's hiring a permanent CFO 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, start-up costs associated with opening new office locations, dependence on key personnel, attracting and retaining qualified consultants, dependence on outside experts, intense competition, and professional liability. Further information on factors that could affect the Company's financial results is included in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.