The need

Attorneys representing groups of US farmers in their bellwether case against a large agriculture company needed an expert in risk management to make their case. The suit accused the defendant of negligence and fraudulent omission for not disclosing the exportation risk of using a particular seed for a key crop. This seed was approved in the US, but, allegedly, hurt their revenues as a foreign importer of the crop refused to buy it as it was an unapproved grain. As such, the expert would need to be able to evaluate the benefits and risk to the US supply chain of using this new seed in the US at a time when it had not been approved by the foreign importer in question.

Our approach

From conversations with the clients, we understand that the ideal expert would likely be an agricultural economist. Knowing that this was a high stakes litigation, we went to work to find the best expert for the case.

The expert

We found an expert with a PhD in Economics from a top university and was a professor of agricultural economics. With an expertise in commodity markets, including grain markets, he was highly knowledgeable about the issues at play in the case. Additionally, he was highly skilled in calculating the financial impact of disruptions of commodity trading and had prior experience with the commodity markets. Well published, he had authored over a hundred papers in peer reviewed journals. Finally, he had been deposed dozens of times in agriculture-related cases and had testified many times in court and in front of the International Trade Commission. The case was settled very favorably in the plaintiff’s favor.