August 4, 2026
Alison Deich of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll LLP represented poultry plant workers who forced producers into a wage-suppression settlement that was touted as the largest of its kind, earning her a spot as one of the antitrust lawyers under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.
The biggest case of her career:
Deich took a leading role in a case from poultry plant workers accusing some of the country’s biggest producers of conspiring to keep wages low, which wrapped up last year with settlements totaling nearly $400 million.
“It was the largest recovery ever in an antitrust class action for low-wage workers in the United States,” Deich said.
The case was also one of the first of its kind representing low-wage workers. That meant there was a dearth of precedent on how wage suppression could happen in such markets, meaning Deich and her co-counsel had to “chase the edge of the economic literature.”
“We got to work with economists to figure out how to explain the economic theory to the court and show how the workers in our class could be harmed by anticompetitive conduct,” Deich said.
. . .
What motivates her:
Deich said she is driven by representing her clients and the chance to hold corporations accountable when they abuse their power.
“In my active antitrust cases, our clients are ordinary workers and consumers who are trying to put food on their tables and pay their rent, and generally make ends meet for their families. And I think they should have a fair opportunity to do that,” she said.
Why she chose antitrust law:
Deich is a firm believer in using antitrust law to pursue economic justice, especially for workers.
“Antitrust is an exciting way to make sure that employers don’t gain an unfair advantage when bargaining with workers over compensation,” she said.