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MADISON - ST. CLAIR RECORD

Friday, March 29, 2024

Gilbert says Sprague intervention in atrazine case must await 7th Circuit

BENTON – Jane Doe, client of Belleville lawyer Robert Sprague, cannot immediately intervene in a federal suit to obtain evidence for a suit in St. Clair County, U.S. District Judge Phil Gilbert ruled on Aug. 30.

Gilbert ruled that he lacks jurisdiction while Seventh Circuit appellate judges review a protective order he entered in a suit against Syngenta, maker of weed killer atrazine.

“Any disputes regarding the protective order must await a decision by the Court of Appeals,” he wrote.

Sprague moved to intervene on Aug. 16, calling for Gilbert to modify the order.

He wrote that he could not economically pursue a claim against Syngenta if he had to repeat the discovery that Syngenta produced for plaintiff lawyer Stephen Tillery.

His client had sued Syngenta in St. Clair County on Aug. 14, claiming atrazine in her water caused her son’s urethra to open on a wrong part of his penis.

St. Clair County Circuit Judge Andrew Gleeson sealed the complaint, but Sprague posted it in federal court as an exhibit with his motion for intervention.

On Aug. 21, Sprague filed a motion for a protective order from Gleeson.

Gleeson sealed it, but Sprague posted it as an exhibit in federal court on Aug. 29.

He filed it with a brief advising Gilbert that it would cost more than $1 million a year just to store what Syngenta produced.

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