Syngenta Corn Lawsuit Update
By John Shoup, Director, IALF
Mark Thornburg, General Counsel, INFB
Lauren Tobe, Law Clerk, INFB
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We continue to receive questions about the Syngenta MIR162 litigation. At this time we are able to provide some updates, but finding certainty within this complex litigation will take time. Farmers should seek the advice of their attorney as they navigate this multifaceted process.
Many farmers have hired local attorneys and filed state claims in Minnesota. Plaintiff’s counsel strategically chose this forum. These lawsuits will remain in Minnesota state court because it is the principal place of business for Syngenta. In all of these separate cases, Minnesota law will be applied. This includes Minnesota’s Deceptive Trade Practices Act, which seems to be the crux of the Minnesota complaints. Attorney costs and fees will be determined by a contingency fee arrangement signed by both parties prior the initial filing.
Another avenue of litigation open to farmers is to file a suit in their own state alleging a state or federal claim. However, “[w]hen civil actions involving one or more common questions of fact are pending in different districts, such actions may be transferred to any district for coordinated or consolidated pretrial proceedings.” 28 U.S.C. § 1407(a). These individual cases have been and will continue to be transferred to Kansas City, Kansas, where Judge John W. Lungstrum is overseeing Multidistrict Litigation 2591, In Re: Syngenta AG MIR162 Corn Litigation. Multidistrict litigation, or MDL, is a way for the court to efficiently resolve complex civil cases. Plaintiffs are usually unable to decide whether their cases will be consolidated into the MDL, as they only have seven days after a transfer order has been filed by the MDL panel to file an opposition to the transfer order. Each state’s statute of limitations is a factor in MDL. Most Indiana claims have a two-year statute of limitations, which some suggest began on November 19, 2013, when China began rejecting corn shipments. With the advice of counsel, farmers interested in filing their own claim should do so well before November 19, 2015.
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From the director
Thank you for subscribing to the IALF Spotlight newsletter. We hope you will find the content useful and relevant. If you have any questions about the IALF or would like to support our mission, please contact me, John Shoup, via email at JShoup@INAgLaw.org or by telephone at 317-692-7801.
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