Derek
Brandt

Derek Brandt has spent decades litigating consequential disputes that have leveled the playing field for ordinary consumers, workers, farmers, and businesses against some of the world's most powerful corporate and financial interests. His plaintiff-oriented practice focuses on competition, antitrust, and other commercial and consumer disputes, both on a class and individual basis. He regularly advocates for clients harmed by anticompetitive agreements, abuse of market power, and other unfair forms of competition.

For instance, Derek currently acts as co-lead counsel in consolidated antitrust litigation on behalf of Burger King restaurant workers challenging a nationwide no-hire agreement among independently owned Burger King restaurants. The case builds on substantial economic scholarship confirming that no-hire or no-poaching agreements suppress wages for low-income American workers. Derek and his team prevailed in an early appeal in that matter, confirming that independent employers remain subject to antitrust scrutiny for agreements in restraint of trade, even if operating within the same franchise system. See Arrington v. Burger King Worldwide, 47 F.4th 1247 (11th Cir. 2022). Derek previously acted as co-lead counsel in an antitrust suit against McDonald's based on similar allegations. In that case, Derek and co-counsel won a landmark appellate decision in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, which confirmed that a no-hire agreement among competing restaurants within a franchise system is subject to per se liability under the Sherman Act. See Deslandes v. McDonald's USA, LLC, 81 F.4th 669 (7th Cir. 2023). Deslandes was the first federal appellate court decision to address the liability standard applicable to no-poaching agreements. Law360 named Deslandes its #1 Seventh Circuit Civil Opinion of 2023.

In other selected antitrust matters, Derek previously served as court-appointed Interim Liaison Counsel in In Re Crop Inputs Antitrust Litigation (MDL No. 2993, E.D. Mo.); as co-lead for major commercial metals purchasers alleging a global price-fixing scheme, in which he argued a successful antitrust standing appeal (Eastman Kodak Co. v. Goldman Sachs et al., 936 F.3d 86 (2d Cir. 2019)); and as co-lead for 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 e-commerce platforms.

Derek has been named an Illinois Super Lawyer each year for well over 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 and in 2026 earned a place among the Lawdragon 500 Leading Global Antitrust & Competition Lawyers.

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