The American Antitrust Institute (AAI) is pleased to announce W. Joseph Bruckner and Howard J. Sedran as the 2025 inductees to the Private Antitrust Enforcement Hall of Fame. Both will be honored at AAI’s Annual Private Antitrust Enforcement Conference Luncheon on November 6, 2025, in Washington D.C.
Joseph Bruckner
For more than 30 years, Joe Bruckner has litigated antitrust and competition matters and practiced in complex business litigation in federal and state courts nationwide. He has regularly been appointed lead and co-lead class counsel by courts in nationwide antitrust litigation. He has served on the AAI Advisory Board and on the AAI Board of Directors.
“Joe Bruckner’s career exemplifies the best of private antitrust enforcement,” said Randy Stutz, President of AAI. “His leadership, integrity, and tireless advocacy have advanced competition and delivered real benefits for consumers and workers. We are proud to recognize his outstanding contributions by welcoming him into the AAI Private Antitrust Enforcement Hall of Fame.”
Bruckner graduated with honors from Creighton University School of Law, where he was the editor-in-chief of the Creighton Law Review. He served as a law clerk to the Honorable Donald P. Lay, then Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
As a longtime partner with Lockridge Grindal Nauen PLLP, Bruckner has led, litigated, and tried major antitrust class actions throughout his career, including the Freight Forwarders Antitrust case involving a global antitrust conspiracy in the freight cargo shipping industry; and the Potash Antitrust litigation, in which he and his colleagues obtained a precedential and unanimous en banc decision from the 7th Circuit clarifying the application of the Foreign Trade Antitrust Improvements Act to global cartels.
Bruckner also chaired the Minnesota State Bar Association Antitrust Law Section, and served as president of the Committee to Support the Antitrust Laws. He was a contributing author of The International Handbook on Private Enforcement of Competition Law (2010), and the Private Enforcement of Antitrust Laws in the United States (2012), among other publications. He has spoken at antitrust and complex litigation conferences and programs locally and nationwide.
“I am deeply honored to be inducted into the AAI Private Antitrust Enforcement Hall of Fame,” said Bruckner. “I have dedicated my career to make markets open and fair, and I’ve had the great fortune to work alongside many colleagues and good friends who share that dedication to protect competition and serve the public good. I am grateful to AAI for this recognition and for its steadfast leadership in advancing antitrust enforcement.”
Howard J. Sedran
Howard J. Sedran was a founding partner at Levin Sedran & Berman, where he remained as partner or Of Counsel from 1985 until his passing in the summer of 2025.
“Howard was a tireless champion for consumer antitrust rights and for the rule of law,” said Austin Cohen, Sedran’s partner at the firm. “He would be honored to know that his colleagues have voted to induct him into the Private Antitrust Enforcement Hall of Fame.”
Sedran began his legal career at a large Washington D.C. firm, typically representing corporate interests, but soon moved to Philadelphia and changed course, choosing instead to champion the rights of consumers and small businesses. Over the next thirty-plus years, he recovered billions of dollars in damages for the classes he represented.
Sedran served as lead or co-lead counsel in In Re Air Cargo Shipping Services Antitrust Litigation; In Re EPDM Antitrust Litigation; In re Bulk Extruded Antitrust Litigation; In Re Graphite Electrodes Antitrust Litigation; In Re Foundry Resins Products Antitrust Litigation; In Re Electrical Carbon Products Antitrust Litigation; In Re Commercial Explosives Antitrust Litigation; and Shaw v. Dallas Cowboys Football Club, Ltd.
Air Cargo involved a global conspiracy among 30 air cargo carriers to fix fuel surcharges and other surcharges on air cargo routes. The case settled for more than $1.25 billion. In EPDM, a case alleging global price fixing of a synthetic rubber product, the $90 million settlement recovered nearly 100% of the plaintiffs’ estimated single damages.
Sedran often litigated complex, unsettled issues. In Air Cargo, for example, he litigated the question of what commerce falls within the Foreign Trade Antitrust Improvement Act (FTAIA). In Shaw, he tested the boundaries of the Sports Broadcasting Act’s antitrust exemption. Sedran also worked successfully with lobbyists and legislators to revise provisions in the the Antitrust Criminal Penalty Enhancement and Reform Act (ACPERA) that require criminal leniency applicants to cooperate in related civil litigation.
“AAI is proud to recognize Howard Sedran for the indelible mark he left on our field,” said Stutz. “His contributions to the antitrust community were exceptional, and he will be missed.”
About the Hall of Fame
AAI established the Private Antitrust Enforcement Hall of Fame in 2018 as an important part of celebrating the organization’s 20th anniversary and furthering the goals of progressive competition education, research, and advocacy that have defined AAI’s mission and success since its founding in 1998.
The Hall of Fame recognizes practitioners for three major contributions:
– Distinguished service to the private antitrust enforcement community;
– Commitment to the enforcement of the antitrust laws; and
– Success in fighting for competition, consumers, and workers.
Bruckner and Sedran join AAI Private Antitrust Enforcement Hall of Fame inductees Joseph Goldberg, Roberta D. Liebenberg, H. Laddie Montague Jr., Ellen Meriwether, Michael J. Freed, Jonathan W. Cuneo, Pamela Gilbert, and Daniel Small. Learn more about the AAI Private Antitrust Enforcement Hall of Fame here.
