[en] We investigate the critical behavior of three-dimensional relativistic fermion models with a U(N_L)_L x U(1)_R chiral symmetry reminiscent of the Higgs-Yukawa sector of the standard model of particle physics. We classify all possible four-fermion interaction terms and the corresponding discrete symmetries. For sufficiently strong correlations in a scalar parity-conserving channel, the system can undergo a second-order phase transition to a chiral-symmetry broken phase, which is a 3d analog of the electroweak phase transition. We determine the critical behavior of this phase transition in terms of the critical exponent ν and the fermion and scalar anomalous dimensions for N_L≥1. Our models define new universality classes that can serve as prototypes for studies of strongly correlated chiral fermions.