March 05, 2025
An Illinois federal judge gave his initial signoff Wednesday to more than $41 million in settlements between major chicken producers and indirect chicken buyers who accused them of illegally conspiring to fix prices, calling the proposal a substantial recovery to otherwise risky litigation.
February 12, 2025
An Illinois federal judge trimmed on Tuesday some conspiracy claims from a massive antitrust case against chicken producers, including Pilgrim's Pride and over a dozen others, but kept intact other bid-rigging allegations, finding that a class of restaurants and other direct buyers plausibly alleged the companies increased prices in parallel.
December 18, 2024
Pilgrim's Pride is able to formally duck Sysco chicken price-fixing claims picked up by a Burford Capital LLC unit after an Illinois federal judge once again ruled that the companies are bound by a settlement between Pilgrim's Pride and Sysco that the litigation funding giant contested as too small.
October 17, 2024
An Illinois federal judge on Thursday refused for a second time to let a Burford Capital LLC unit unbind itself from a global settlement Pilgrim's Pride and Sysco entered to resolve chicken, pork and beef price-fixing claims.
August 20, 2024
A Burford Capital Unit tried again Monday to unbind itself from a chicken price-fixing settlement that Sysco sealed via email with Pilgrim's Pride, arguing in Illinois federal court that the Seventh Circuit has criticized the order backing the settlement as "fatally flawed."
August 13, 2024
An Illinois federal judge granted final approval Tuesday to $75 million in settlements between direct chicken purchasers and House of Raeford Farms and Koch Foods in a massive consolidated price-fixing case, denying an objection by restaurants, which he said could not second-guess class counsel's decisions after failing to opt out.
July 24, 2024
Chicken buyer plaintiffs say they've reached a settlement with Mountaire Farms and Koch Foods in their suit against the country's biggest broiler chicken producers for allegedly conspiring to raise prices, telling an Illinois federal judge to call off the trial that had been scheduled for September.
July 19, 2024
Consumers accusing the nation's largest broiler chicken producers of coordinating and limiting chicken production to raise prices have told an Illinois federal judge that they've reached a settlement in principle with O.K. Foods, O.K. Farms and O.K. Industries.
July 17, 2024
An Illinois federal judge signaled Wednesday that he was unlikely to allow chicken end users' economics expert to testify about damages they suffered in an alleged price-fixing conspiracy if the expert cannot focus his opinion on just the conduct allowed to be heard at trial.
July 09, 2024
An Illinois federal judge granted final approval Tuesday to settlements direct chicken buyers struck with producers that beat their price-fixing claims at summary judgment or trial, saving them about $1 million in costs they could have otherwise owed the companies.