GCR Honors RJLF Trial Win with 2023 Behavioural Matter of the Year Award

Reichman Jorgensen Lehman & Feldberg (RJLF), along with the other defense firms in the broiler chicken criminal antitrust case, were honored with Global Competition Review’s (GCR) 2023 “Behavioural Matter of the Year (Americas)” award, which recognizes the creative, strategic, and innovative work handled by teams of lawyers and economists and the biggest cases from 2022. Winners were announced at GCR’s 13th annual awards ceremony on March 28, 2023, in Washington, D.C.

Behavioural Matter of the Year (Americas) – Acquittals in U.S. Department of Justice’s Broiler Chicken Probe

The RJLF trial team secured a complete acquittal in a federal criminal trial against the Department of Justice (DOJ), in a case alleging that prices were fixed over an eight-year period in the $28 billion per year broiler chicken industry. The long-awaited victory followed two mistrials when jurors deadlocked after weeks of trial. The case stemmed from an indictment that charged 10 executives with criminal violations of the Sherman Act.

The trial win earned the RJLF team, along with the other defense teams, The American Lawyer’s “Litigator of the Week” first runners-up recognition, and the case garnered extensive national attention from major news outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Forbes, Reuters, Politico, and CNBC, among others. Led by partner Michael Feldberg, the RJLF trial team also included co-counsel Julie Withers, and associates Laura Carwile, David King, Parshad Brahmbhatt, and Nathaniel Warner. 

Considered the world’s leading antitrust and competition law journal, the annual GCR Awards are based on a nomination and voting process open only to employees of law firms, economic consultancies, government agencies, universities, and competition advocacy organizations. Employees are not allowed to vote for matters in which their organization was involved.