Derek Y. Brandt

Biography

Named one of the top 100 lawyers in Illinois, Derek Brandt is an innovative litigator with decades of experience litigating high-stakes disputes involving some of the most powerful corporate and financial interests in the world. His plaintiff-oriented practice focuses on competition, antitrust, and other commercial and consumer disputes, both on a class and individual basis. 

Mr. Brandt has represented clients large and small, ranging from Fortune 100 and Fortune 150 multi-national companies to smaller publicly traded entities. He has also represented privately held businesses, municipalities, and innumerable individual consumers and investors. Many of his litigations have played out before some of the most influential state and federal courts in America. Examples of Mr. Brandt’s most noteworthy representations include: 

  • Prosecution of an antitrust “tying” claim on behalf of a game-changing ophthalmological surgical device manufacturer against its dominant global competitor, resulting in an eight-figure pre-trial settlement. 
  • Acting for major MDL corporate plaintiffs alleging price-fixing of primary aluminum by investment banks and global commodities interests, see In re Aluminum Warehousing Antitrust Litig., MDL No. 2481 (S.D.N.Y.). In that case, Mr. Brandt argued a successful appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on the legal issue of “antitrust injury,” a result for which he was honored as a Law360 “Legal Lion of the Week.” See Eastman Kodak Co., et al. v. Henry Bath LLC, et al., 936 F.3d 86 (2d Cir. 2019). 
  • Acting for employees of franchise-based restaurant chains challenging the wage-suppressive effect of employers’ agreement not to solicit or hire each other’s employees. Beginning in 2017, Mr. Brandt and MLG initiated and achieved early procedural successes in the first of these “no-poaching” suits addressing labor monopsony, a topic that labor economists, the American Bar Association’s Antitrust Law Section, and numerous federal and state regulators have come to regard as one of the hottest issues in antitrust law. Mr. Brandt and MLG have now been appointed or act as co-lead counsel in suits against some of America’s largest franchise restaurant chains. 
  • Acting for motorists challenging the constitutionality of the City of Chicago’s “red light camera” ticketing program before the Illinois Supreme Court. 
  • Acting for an investor pursuing a “double derivative” action in the Delaware Court of Chancery relating to the launch of commercial satellites in Russian-controlled geostationary orbital locations. That engagement resulted in a favorable ruling of first impression by the Delaware Supreme Court, sitting en banc. 
  • Acting for the Village of Roxana, Illinois and residents of the Village in litigation concerning a groundwater contamination plume emanating from one of the largest oil refineries in America. 

Mr. Brandt has also represented plaintiffs in False Claims Act “whistleblower” actions and in various litigations relating to consumer, commercial, and investment transactions. He has been named to the Illinois Super Lawyers list each year for the last decade, an honor reserved by Thomson Reuters for the top 5% of practitioners, based on peer nominations and its independent research. In 2020, Super Lawyers recognized him as one of the Top 100 attorneys in Illinois and as an overall Super Lawyer from 2012-2021 and in 2023. He was separately honored for inclusion in the 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22, and 2022-23 versions of Best Lawyers in America.

Mr. Brandt is a 1992 graduate of DePauw University (B.A.), and a 1995 graduate of the Indiana University Maurer School of Law (J.D.). He practices from the firm’s Illinois office and is admitted to numerous federal trial and appellate courts nationwide.

Education

  • J.D., Indiana University Maurer School of Law, 1995
  • B.A., DePauw University, 1992

Awards

  • Best Lawyers in America, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023
  • Illinois Super Lawyer, 2012 – 2021, 2023
  • Illinois Top 100 Attorneys, by Super Lawyer, 2020

Professional Associations

  • American Bar Association
  • Association of Business Trial Lawyers
  • California State Bar
  • Central District of California Rules Committee, Local Rules Advisory Committee Member
  • Consumer Attorneys of California
  • Riverside County Bar Association
  • San Bernardino County Bar Association
  • The American Association for Justice
  • Illinois State Bar Association
  • Federal Bar Association

Federal Court Admissions

  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit
  • U.S. District Court, Central District of Illinois
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois
  • U.S. District Court, Southern District of Illinois
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan
  • U.S. District Court, Western District of Pennsylvania
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Missouri

Featured Videos

Do Anti-Trust Cases Only Involve Large Companies?

Antitrust cases are not limited to large corporations. They can involve small businesses and individual consumers as well. One of the most important and groundbreaking cases that Derek Brandt and...

Class Actions & Anti-Trust Law

Derek's area of practice focuses on antitrust litigation and class actions. He represents both individuals and businesses against organizations with unlawful competition practices.

Are All of Your Cases from Southern California?

Derek Brandt handles antitrust cases across the country. He has represented clients in New York, Illinois, Texas, and all over California.

Derek’s Background & Practice History

Derek grew up in the midwest. He started practicing law in 1995 in Chicago, focusing on class action and antitrust litigation. After 10 years in Chicago, Derek moved closer to...

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