Chicken Cartel Attorneys’ Fees Fall Slightly to $51.7 Million

Attorneys who spearheaded a cartel class action against some poultry giants are set to receive $51.7 million under a slightly reduced fee award that stemmed from objections raised by a class member.

The figure is 30% of the $172.2 million deal that Tyson Foods Inc., Koch Foods Inc. and Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. reached with a class of “direct purchasers,” according to a July 3 opinion from Judge Thomas M. Durkin of the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Attorneys are due to receive about $5 million less than Durkin’s original award, which represented a third of the settlement size.

The Seventh Circuit in August ordered the court to reevaluate the fee after siding with class member John Andren’s objection. The court asked the judge to factor in bids made by attorneys in auctions in comparable cases and the decision by courts to award lower fees.

Under a new analysis, Durkin concluded that the “best evidence” of the market rate for attorneys fees in antitrust cases across the country is 30%. " This result suggests a downward departure from the one-third fee the court previously awarded,” Durkin said.

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

“We’re happy about the reduction of a bit over $5 million, though it’s less than we feel appropriate,” Frank said. “The opinion has some internal inconsistencies and we think it contradicts the mandate in places.”

The case against Tyson, Koch, and Pilgrim’s, a subsidiary of Brazilian meatpacking giant JBS SA, centered around an alleged scheme to exchange nonpublic information and fix the prices for chicken broilers. It was among a wave of cartel cases focused on the agriculture and livestock businesses.

Companies including Sanderson Farms Inc., Perdue Farms Inc., and Tyson Foods Inc. have reached settlements totaling about $70 million to resolve separate antitrust claims from farmers. Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. last month also reached a settlement with farmers for an undisclosed figure, a move that came after a judge set a trial 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., N.D. Ill., 1:16-cv-08637, 7/3/24.