Lawyers from 15 law firms, including Texas plaintiffs attorney Mikal Watts, tussled in court Monday over who should get what from a $503 million fee award in the GMO corn settlement with Syngenta.
U.S. District Judge John Lungstrum of the District of Kansas, who approved the $1.5 billion class action settlement in an order earlier this month, heard objections to a special master’s report and recommendation that allocated fees to about 400 law firms. The settlement, approved in the multidistrict litigation in Kansas, resolved lawsuits alleging that Syngenta sold genetically modified corn seed that China refused to import, causing about 600,000 farmers and other producers to lose billions of dollars.
