Earlier this year, my colleague, Shareholder Jayne Conroy was appointed to the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee (PEC) for the pending multidistrict litigation (MDL) against Syngenta Seeds Inc. concerning its genetically modified corn. Farmers and farm businesses are actively filing lawsuits against Syngenta, with more than 360 filed in 20 states, so far.
Jayne is playing a major role on the corn litigation Plaintiff’s Executive Committee, as additional cases are being transferred into the consolidated federal docket in Kansas City. As Jayne said in an article, more lawsuits may be filed as the federal judge continues to organize the cases.
“They are still filing all the time,” said Conroy in the article, which was picked up by multiple newspapers, including the New York Times. “I have many clients that are not filed yet. We are gathering the data.”
In regards to how long farmers and farm businesses have to file lawsuits against Syngenta, there is still time.
“There’s no deadline at this point,” she said.
Lawsuits are being filed for loss of profits and a depressed corn market due to the rejection of Syngenta’s Viptera MIR 162 corn trait, which lasted for four years. In late 2014, China finally approved the corn trait for import, which is good news for American farmers for multiple reasons. This change in approval could help the market to recover – but it also could help U.S. farmers and exporters reach settlements with the company for damaging the U.S. corn market.
Jayne has served in leadership positions of more than a dozen multidistrict litigations. Since 2006, she is credited with orchestrating the settlements of thousands of cases for a total recovery for the firm’s clients of more than $500 million. Conroy also has represented several thousand victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, tragedy in a multidistrict action against the financial sponsors of terrorism.
Learn more about filing a GMO corn lawsuit.
