Professionals

Brent W. Johnson

Partner

WASHINGTON, DC

T 202.408.4600

practice areas
Overview

Brent W. Johnson is a partner at Cohen Milstein and co-chair of the firm’s Antitrust practice. He also leads the practice’s new case investigations. 

Brent has served as lead and co-lead counsel in cases that have compensated class members hundreds of millions of dollars for claims under Sherman Act Sections 1 and 2 and state antitrust laws. He also has initiated and developed cases that have helped break new ground in antitrust law, including those on behalf of workers challenging restraints in labor markets.

Brent leads the Co-Lead Counsel teams in the following notable antitrust class actions:

  • In re Broiler Chicken Antitrust Litigation (N.D. Ill.): Brent leads the Co-Lead Counsel team for Cohen Milstein, representing a class of end-user consumers of broiler chicken in a litigation alleging that the defendants, who include Perdue Farms and Tyson Foods, agreed to restrict the supply of broilers, among other things, thereby raising their price to consumers. As of July 25, 2023, settlements against defendants total $183.9 million. In its December 20, 2021 order granting final approval of settlements with six defendants for a total of $181 million, the Court described co-lead counsel’s work as “exemplary.”
  • Jien v. Perdue Farms, Inc. (D. Md.): Brent leads the Co-Lead Counsel team for Cohen Milstein, representing a proposed class of poultry plant workers, in a suit alleging that the nation’s largest chicken and turkey producers conspired to suppress their compensation. Settlements total $398 million. Litigation against Agri Stats continues.
  • Brown v. JBS USA Food Company (D. Co.): Brent leads the Co-Lead Counsel team for Cohen Milstein, representing a proposed class of beef and pork plant workers, in a suit alleging that the nation’s largest beef and pork producers conspired to suppress their compensation. Plaintiffs so far have reached settlements totaling more than $200 million. The case is in discovery with the remaining defendants.
  • Scharpf v. General Dyamics Corp. (E.D. Va.): Brent leads the Co-Lead Counsel team for Cohen Milstein, representing a proposed class of naval architects and marine engineers, in a suit alleging that the nation’s largest private contractors and consulting firms who design and build ships for the Navy and Coast Guard conspired to not actively recruit class members and thereby suppress their compensation.

Brent’s work has been repeatedly recognized. He was recognized by The Legal 500 in 2024 as a “Leading Lawyer,” an honor bestowed upon thirteen lawyers who lead antitrust civil litigation and class actions. Since 2019, Lawdragon has named him to its list of “500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers,” and in 2025, it named him to its list of “500 Leading Litigators in America.” Since 2021, Global Competition Review (GCR) has named him to its “Who’s Who Legal: Competition” list for Plaintiffs. He also was named by Super Lawyers a Super Lawyer for Antitrust Litigation in 2020 and 2021. The Antitrust practice has won Law360’s Competition Practice Group of the year twice (2022, 2024) during Brent’s five-year tenure as co-chair with Managing Partner Benjamin Brown.

Brent is a commentator on antitrust and class action issues. In 2016, he provided testimony concerning Rule 23 to the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules on behalf of the Committee to Support the Antitrust Laws. Along with his law partner Emmy Levens, he has published two articles in the ABA’s Antitrust magazine – one on ascertainability in the Spring 2016 issue and another on circuit splits affecting antitrust class actions in the Fall 2019 issue. He is a member of the ABA Section of Antitrust Law, and in July of 2019, he gave an ABA presentation on the legal standard to apply in cases regarding no-poach agreements.  

Affiliations
  • Member, American Bar Association Section of Antitrust Law 
Pro Bono
  • Brent’s pro bono work includes representation of Covenant House Washington, D.C., Habitat for Humanity International Inc., and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. 
Other Experience

Prior to joining Cohen Milstein, Brent practiced at a premier global law firm, where he focused on antitrust litigation for plaintiffs and defendants. Some of his matters included: 

  • Feesers, Inc. v. Michael Foods, Inc. and Sodexho, Inc. (M.D. Pa.): Mr. Johnson was a member of the successful trial team that represented Michael Foods, a manufacturer of processed egg products and refrigerated potato products, in a three-week trial of a Robinson-Patman Act action brought by a broad-line distributor of food products. 
  • Dahl, et al. v. Bain Capital, et al. (D. Mass.): Mr. Johnson represented The Carlyle Group in a class action where plaintiffs alleged collusion among certain private equity firms and investment banks in specific going-private transactions in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act. 
  • In re Aftermarket Filters Antitrust Litigation (N.D. Ill.): Mr. Johnson represented Champion Laboratories, a manufacturer of aftermarket automotive filters, in a class action where plaintiffs alleged a conspiracy among manufacturers to fix prices in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act.
  • National Laser Technology, Inc. v. Biolase Technology, Inc. (S.D. Ind.): Mr. Johnson represented Biolase, the country’s largest manufacturer of lasers for dental applications, against Sherman Act claims brought by a competitor aftermarket dental laser support company. The matter resulted in a favorable settlement for the client. 
ADMISSIONS
  • District of Columbia
  • New Jersey
  • New York
EDUCATION
  • Stanford Law School, J.D., 2003
  • Duke University, B.A., magna cum laude, 2000