A federal judge in Kansas has granted final approval of a $1.51 billion settlement in the nationwide multidistrict litigation that pit a class of thousands of farmers, grain handlers and exporters against agrochemical giant Syngenta for a major interruption in corn trade between U.S. and China.
U.S. District Judge John W. Lungstrom signed the final approval on Friday for the settlement, which was initially reached in February 2018.
The judge’s order marks the home stretch to end a legal dispute that has lasted for four years for the plaintiffs and Dallas Gray Reed attorney Bill Chaney, who was one of four co-lead attorneys appointed by Judge Lungstrom to represent the certified class.
It is also believed to be the largest agricultural settlement in in U.S. history.
The hundreds of lawsuits against Syngenta alleged that the company knowingly released genetically modified corn into the marketplace that was part of their Agrisure Viptera and Agrisure Duracade lines. American corn farmers grew those corn lines, and when they attempted to export their corn to China, a major importer of U.S. corn, China detected a genetic trait and began rejecting the U.S. shipments.
Chaney was part of a team that took a class of 7,000 Kansas farmers to trial against Syngenta in June 2017 in Kansas federal court, which resulted in a $217.7 million verdict. The MDL had other proceedings in Minnesota state court as well as Illinois federal court.
After the parties negotiated the $1.51 billion settlement in February, Chaney and his co-counsel went through the process of getting the settlement approved by their thousands of clients. The settlement approved on Friday was essentially the same as what the parties agreed to in February.
“We are delighted that the settlement has been approved,” Chaney and his co-lead counsel said in a joint statement. “Under the settlement agreement, it is possible that payments could begin as early as the second quarter of 2019, but appeals could delay those payments. We look forward to getting the settlement funds out as soon as possible to the hundreds of thousands of class members who will receive compensation for their losses.
“It has been a long and hard-fought battle, and we have been honored to have represented farmers and others in this important litigation.”
The other three lawyers leading the multidistrict litigation for the plaintiffs were Kansas City lawyer Patrick Stueve of Stueve Siegel Hanson; St. Louis lawyer Don Downing of Gray, Ritter & Graham; and Birmingham lawyer Scott Powell of Hare, Wynn, Newell & Newton.
A team of lawyers primarily from the Chicago and Washington, D.C. offices of Kirkland & Ellis represented Syngenta.