Lawyers representing class-action companies suing poultry processors for price fixing have been awarded more than $100 million.
A court in Illinois has awarded $60 million to lawyers who represented wholesalers who filed class-action lawsuits against chicken processors.
And in the same court, U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin granted $56 million in legal fees to attorneys who represented the direct buyers of chicken, such as supermarkets and food service providers, for what he called “interim attorney fees,” and reimbursement of litigation expenses and incentive awards for five named class representatives.
The court split the money processors were fined in the wholesaler case with two-thirds for the wholesalers and a third for the lawyers.
Justice Thomas Durkin awarded about $55.2 million in fees, $4.5 million to cover litigation expenses, and a $15,000 incentive award for each of five named plaintiffs: Maplevale Farms; John Gross and Co.; Ferraro Foods; Joe Christiana Food Distributors; and Cedar Farms Co.
Eight processors have reached settlement agreements with direct purchaser plaintiffs totaling nearly $180.9 million in the broiler chicken antitrust litigation. Tyson, Pilgrim's, Mar-Jac Poultry, Harrison Poultry, Peco Foods, George's, Amick Farms and Fieldale Farms all have reached settlements.
The latest settlement agreements, which received preliminary approval from the court in early October, require Mar-Jac to pay nearly $8 million and Harrison Poultry to pay $3.3 million.
Of the previous settling defendants, Tyson has paid more than $79.3 million, Pilgrim’s Pride has paid $75 million, Peco has paid nearly $5 million, George’s has paid almost $4.1 million, Amick has paid almost $4 million, and Fieldale has paid close to $2.3 million.
The court granted final approval to settlements with Fieldale in November 2018; Amick Farms, George’s and Peco Foods in October 2020; and Pilgrim's and Tyson in June 2021.
