Lawyers in Individual Syngenta Corn Actions Free of Fraud Suit

Law firms and lawyers who represented individual corn farmers that sued Syngenta are free of a lawsuit alleging they failed to tell the plaintiffs the benefits of proceeding as part of a class, the Tenth Circuit ruled Tuesday.

Kellogg Farms and other corn producers opted to sue Syngenta individually over alleged commingling of genetically modified corn-seed products, while other corn producers chose to proceed as part of a class action. The Kellogg plaintiffs sued their attorneys, including Watts Guerra LLP, for allegedly causing excessive legal fees and exclusion from class proceedings with their advice.

The US District Court for the District of Kansas dismissed the suit, in part because the Kellogg farmers were allowed to participate in the class settlement, eliminating any possible injury.

The US Court of Appeals for the Tench Circuit affirmed that decision, rejecting the Kellogg farmers’ view that the presence of an injury-in-fact should be considered only when the suit begins. A controversy “must remain throughout the litigation,” the opinion says.

“The case or controversy on the RICO and common-law fraud claims ended when the Kellogg farmers settled with Syngenta,” the panel wrote. “So the district court did not err by considering the settlement even though it took place after the Kellogg farmers had sued their former attorneys.”

The appeals panel further ruled that, although there existed an injury-in-fact for the purposes of a claim for fiduciary breach, the district court didn’t abuse its discretion when it dismissed that claim as a sanction for refusing to accept multiple court orders.

The appeals court also affirmed the lower court’s decision to assess monetary sanctions against the Kellogg farmers for failures in discovery and scheduling, and held that claims against seven law firms that helped their attorneys failed because there was no attorney-client relationship.

Judge Robert E. Bacharach wrote the opinion in which Judges Harris L. Hartz and Veronica S. Rossman joined.

The plaintiffs are represented by Douglas J. Nill. Defendants are represented by Thompson, Coe, Cousins & Irons LLP.

The case is Kellogg v. Watts Guerra, 10th Cir., No. 20-03172, 7/26/22.