Adam Schaeffer is managing partner of ES Partners. Adam is consumed by an itch to understand what makes people tick – why they think and do the things they do. And, perhaps more importantly, how to change what they think and do.

He has a wide-range of interests and experience — he’s intensively studied evolutionary psychology, behavioral economics, marketing, policy, and political behavior. Adam has had more than fourteen years of research experience, including eleven years applying this knowledge to solve problems for clients.

In brief, he’s a behavioral scientist. Adam likes to solve human problems – whether it’s getting more people to support a policy, buy a certain energy drink, or change their preferred baby formula.

Adam received his PhD from the University of Virginia in political psychology. His dissertation assessed how different combinations of school choice policies and messages can expand and mobilize elite and mass support. He received his M.A. in Social Science from the University of Chicago, where his thesis integrated aspects of evolutionary theory and psychology with political theory and strategy. His academic research and teaching centered around social psychology and human behavior, and this emphasis continues to animate his applied research.

Alex is a partner at ES Partners. He tends to be a bit preoccupied — the others might say borderline obsessed — with precision and details: from the exotic ink in his fountain pen to managing public opinion during wars and natural disasters. Over the last seven years in both academic and private sector contexts, he’s executed survey and field experiments to gain global strategic insights about how people think and act during crises—from political campaigns to combat missions abroad—and how to respond to them.

Alex co-authored the definitive review article on the politics of disaster relief for the forthcoming Emerging Trends project, which New York Times bestselling author and neuroscientist Daniel J. Levitin has called “an indispensable reference work for the 21st century” and the director of the Harvard Institute for Quantitative Social Science Gary King has called an “unconventional guide to the future.” He’s held faculty positions at Brandeis University and Boston University where he taught both undergraduate and graduate courses in the use of force abroad, public opinion, voter behavior, congressional behavior, and campaign strategy.

His research has been presented at both national and international conferences. Alex received his PhD from Boston University in quantitative methods and public opinion. He received his MA in economics from Tufts University, where he received the department’s most prestigious endowed scholarship, and his BA in mathematics and economics from Merrimack College.

Brock Akers is an attorney specializing in personal injury litigation at The Akers Firm, and a legal products advisor to ES Partners. Brock has tried to verdict over 350 lawsuits, including a wide range of subject areas. Few lawyers in the country have been as active and successful at the courthouse as Mr. Akers in the past four decades.

Brock has been listed in each edition of The Best Lawyers in America® since 1999, rated an "AV Preeminent" attorney by the Martindale-Hubbell rating service, and ranked by AVVO, a peer rating service of lawyers as “Superb,” with a perfect 10 rating. 

Brock is the principle author of The Trial Lawyer Series of books published by Knowles Publishing, a multi-volume set of instructional books for civil trial lawyers.

ES Partners taps a broad network of academics with a range of specialized skills and domain expertise – experimental designs, political behavior/psychology, statistics, etc. – across disciplines such as political science, psychology, economics, marketing, statistics and computer science. Every project is unique, and we bring the best set of people and skills together for each engagement.