Moore & Van Allen Awarded a Global Competition Review "Behavioural Matter of the Year – Americas"
Moore & Van Allen PLLC (MVA) has been recognized as a Global Competition Review (GCR) 2023 “Behavioural Matter of the Year – Americas” award winner. MVA, along with other defense firms, received the award for securing complete acquittals in a high-profile U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) criminal antitrust prosecution of executives in the chicken industry.
The Behavioural Matter of the Year – Americas award recognizes “creative, strategic and innovative work” in criminal or civil proceedings against antitrust enforcement authorities. The awards were presented at GCR’s 13th annual awards event on March 28 in Washington, D.C.
“We are honored to be recognized for our efforts in this case and congratulate the lawyers for each of the other executives for their excellent work, perseverance, and collaboration," said MVA’s lead counsel and White Collar Defense & Investigations Co-head John A. Fagg Jr. “What’s most important is that we succeeded in clearing our client’s good name. After three grueling trials, justice prevailed for all the defendants.”
In U.S. v. Penn, et al., a matter that spanned three separate trials, MVA defended retired Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation CEO Bill Lovette against the DOJ’s allegations of a multi-year conspiracy to rig bids and fix prices in the national broiler chicken market in violation of the Sherman Act. The first two trials ended in mistrials when the juries failed to reach a verdict on any one of the ten defendants. The DOJ then proceeded with an unprecedented third trial against a smaller group of only five defendants, including Mr. Lovette. After more than a month of trial, thanks to MVA’s aggressive, fact-based defense case that included complex economic expert testimony, the jury found Mr. Lovette and the other defendants not guilty of all charges.
In addition to Mr. Fagg, the MVA team that represented Mr. Lovette included partners Frank E. Schall and James P. McLoughlin, Jr., and attorneys Kaitlin M. Price, Catherine R. Prater, Katherine Clarke McDiarmid, Fielding E. Huseth, and Alexis T. Narducci, among others.
MVA has represented clients in criminal and civil antitrust proceedings throughout the United States and across the globe, including matters in the European Union, Brazil, South Africa, and Asia. MVA’s antitrust and white collar criminal defense lawyers have assisted clients with quietly resolving criminal and civil investigations without any governmental enforcement action or publicity, but they also have the experience, skills, and fortitude to achieve award-winning results in a courtroom if trying the case is in the client’s best interest.
GCR provides news and analysis for competition practitioners, working to keep readers up to speed with the most important current affairs, issues and trends. GCR works closely with leaders in the competition community to create an evolving range of research tools, from in-depth guides to data-led analysis tools supporting a range of research or strategy initiatives, across 100+ jurisdictions. The GCR Awards honor the biggest antitrust and competition cases from the past year along with the lawyers, economists, and enforcers from around the world.