Derek
Brandt

Derek Brandt has spent decades litigating important disputes against some of the world's most powerful corporate and financial interests, regularly practicing in some of the most influential state and federal courts in America. His plaintiff-oriented practice focuses on competition, antitrust, and other commercial and consumer disputes, both on a class and individual basis.

Since 2017, Derek has spearheaded groundbreaking antitrust litigation on behalf of restaurant workers challenging franchise chains' employee "no poaching" pacts, which suppress wages for low-income workers. After years of litigation, Derek and his co-counsel team won an important endorsement of their theory of these cases, when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit vacated an adverse trial court judgment. See Deslandes v. McDonald's USA, LLC, 81 F.4th 669 (7th Cir. 2023). The Deslandes decision was listed as Law360's #1 Seventh Circuit Civil Opinion of 2023 and prompted various additional awards and recognitions. Derek and his team previously prevailed in an earlier appeal addressing a different antitrust law issue in another no-poaching case, Arrington v. Burger King Worldwide, 47 F.4th 1247 (11th Cir. 2022).

Derek also currently serves as court-appointed Interim Liaison Counsel in In Re Crop Inputs Antitrust Litigation (MDL No. 2993, E.D. Mo.). In other antitrust matters, Derek represented commercial metals purchasers alleging a global price-fixing scheme against large investment banks and their warehousing entities. He also represented a surgical device manufacturer against its globally-dominant competitor in a Sherman Act "tying" case, resulting in an eight-figure pre-trial settlement. In competition matters, Derek has additional experience litigating Lanham Act and unfair competition claims emanating from seller conduct on popular consumer commerce platforms.

Derek has been named an Illinois Super Lawyer each year for more than a decade, and has been named one of the top 100 lawyers in Illinois by that same publication. He has been honored numerous times in the class action and mass torts field by Best Lawyers in America.

In his free time, Derek enjoys following his kids' events and outdoor activities, such as skiing, hiking, and running.