Chicken cartel lawyers’ fees fall slightly to $51.7 million

Lawyers who led a class action antitrust lawsuit against some of the poultry industry giants are set to receive $51.7 million in slightly reduced fees awarded following objections filed by one of the class members.

That amount represents 30 percent of the $172.2 million agreement that Tyson Foods Inc., Koch Foods Inc. and Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. entered into with a class of “direct purchasers,” according to a July 3 opinion by Judge Thomas M. Durkin of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

The attorneys are expected to receive about $5 million less than the original award to Durkin, which was one-third of the settlement amount.

In August, the Seventh Circuit ordered the court to reconsider the fees after supporting class member John Andren’s objection. The court asked the judge to take into account bids made by attorneys at auctions in similar cases and decisions by courts to award lower fees.

In a new analysis, Durkin concluded that the “best evidence” for the market rate of attorney fees in antitrust cases nationwide is 30 percent. “That figure suggests a departure from the one-third fee previously awarded by the court,” Durkin said.

Ted Frank of the Hamilton Lincoln Law Institute, Andren’s attorney, said in an email Friday that “they will evaluate in the next few weeks whether it makes sense to appeal.”

“We are pleased with a reduction of just over $5 million, although it is less than we believe is appropriate,” Frank said. “The opinion contains some internal inconsistencies and we believe it conflicts with the order in some places.”

The case against Tyson, Koch and Pilgrim’s, a subsidiary of Brazilian meatpacking giant JBS SA, involved an alleged scheme to exchange nonpublic information and fix prices for broiler chickens, one of a wave of cartel cases focusing on agriculture and animal husbandry.

Companies including Sanderson Farms Inc., Perdue Farms Inc. and Tyson Foods Inc. have reached settlements totaling about $70 million to resolve separate antitrust claims by farmers. Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. also settled with farmers last month for an undisclosed amount, which came after a judge set a trial date for 2025.

Attorneys representing the direct purchasers include Lockridge Grindal Nauen PLLP and Hagens Berman Sabol Shapiro LLP.

The case is In re Broiler Chicken Antitrust Litig., ND Ill., 1:16-cv-08637, 7/3/24.