Syngenta Corn Lawsuit Update
By John Shoup, Director, IALF
As the Syngenta corn lawsuit churns forward, INAgLaw wanted to provide an update on the status of the multi-district litigation (MDL) proceeding in the District of Kansas federal court. Attorney Scott Powell, of the Hare Wynn firm in Birmingham, Ala., was appointed co-lead plaintiff counsel in the In re Syngenta AG MIR 162 Corn Litigation multi-district litigation (MDL 2591) by Judge John Lungstrum of the United States District Court for the District of Kansas. Mr. Powell and his three co-leads are the only lawyers authorized to control the collective prosecution and settlement of the hundreds of lawsuits filed against Syngenta, which are part of the federal multi-district litigation. INAgLaw has worked with Scott to better understand the complexity of the cases and provide meaningful information to Indiana corn producers. INAgLaw asked Mr. Powell to provide an update on the MDL, and his response is provided below.
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Summary of Syngenta Corn Litigation from MDL Co-Lead Counsel Scott A. Powell
By Scott A. Powell, Hare, Wynn, Newell & Newton
The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation ordered in late 2014 that cases pending in federal court arising out of Syngenta’s premature commercialization of Viptera and Duracade be transferred to the District of Kansas for pre-trial proceedings. Since then, scores of individual and class actions asserting claims of corn farmers, milo farmers and grain elevators have been transferred to the multi-district proceeding (MDL) in the District of Kansas. In September 2015, the court rejected the primary arguments that Syngenta presented in its motion to dismiss, allowing the plaintiffs to proceed with claims against Syngenta and allowing the parties to proceed with discovery. The court ordered that discovery from the corn farmer plaintiffs be limited to the class representatives and a bellwether discovery pool that included additional corn farmer plaintiffs from eight states: South Dakota, Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Illinois, Arkansas, and Ohio. The court also allowed additional discovery from a small number of farmers who indicated that they purchased or grew Viptera or Duracade. Both sides served written discovery prior to the March 15 deadline for serving written discovery. Syngenta began deposing corn farmers around Christmas, and plaintiffs have also deposed, or will be deposing, a number of Syngenta officials. Depositions are taking place across the United States and also in England, Hong Kong and Australia. The current deadline for completing depositions is May 2, 2016. In March, the court appointed a special master to facilitate settlement discussions. Class certification will be briefed this summer; the motion for certification and brief in support is due June 15, Syngenta’s response is due July 20 and the plaintiffs’ reply is due August 17. This first bellwether trial will begin in June 2017.
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