WASHINGTON – As national litigation against Syngenta starts in Illinois, a judge who approved a $1.5 billion settlement of national litigation against Syngenta must resolve a $20 million dispute over fees.
Multi district judges transferred the dispute from Southern Illinois district court to District Judge John Lungstrum of Kansas City, Kansas, on June 7.
On the same date, they assigned paraquat exposure suits against Syngenta and Chevron to Chief District Judge Nancy Rosenstengel of East St. Louis.
Lungstrum presided over claims that China rejected American corn shipments in 2013, because Syngenta contaminated them with a product China hadn’t approved.
He coordinated his proceedings with those of Rosenstengel and a state court judge in Minneapolis.
His first trial resulted in a plaintiff’s verdict, and Syngenta soon settled.
Lungstrum awarded $214 million to plaintiff firms that led the litigation and $33 million to firms in lesser roles.
Pursuant to his order, Rosenstengel awarded about $30 million to a group including Henninger Garrison Davis of Birmingham, Ala.
This March, the firms of Crumley Roberts in North Carolina and Burke Harvey in Alabama sued Henninger Garrison Davis in Madison County.
According to their counsel Christian Jorgensen of Chicago, “the three firms agreed to split all legal fees received from their efforts equally.”
For Henninger Garrison Davis, C. J. Baricevic of Belleville removed the complaint to district court and petitioned the multi district panel for transfer.
The panel granted conditional transfer, and District Judge David Dugan advised plaintiffs that he’d follow through if they didn’t object.
Crumley Roberts and Burke Harvey objected in April, in the form of a motion to remand the complaint to Madison County.
Jorgensen claimed it didn’t challenge the amount of fees but related to subsequent allocation among group members.
Baricevic responded in May that, “Not only does this case belong in Madison County, Illinois, it should never have been filed in the first place.
“Plaintiffs pursued a desperate self enrichment scheme in state court, which they hope lies beyond the reach of the federal proceedings.”
Dugan didn’t get a chance to decide jurisdiction.
Panel judges found transfer necessary because the complaint would require interpretation of Lungstrum’s orders and the settlement agreement.
“We view the best route to efficiently resolving this dispute is to give the transferee judge the first chance to rule on the effect of his prior orders,” according to the panel.