Remember the law firm of Hare Wynn Newell & Newton, based in Birmingham, Ala., but with an office in Little Rock?
Sure you do.
That’s the crew who helped wrangle a $750 million class-action settlement with Bayer CropScience on behalf of rice farmers in Arkansas and neighboring states.
That was the case where crops tainted by Bayer’s genetically modified rice seeds were blocked from export markets, costing growers millions of dollars.
While HWN&N is helping disburse money to 3,218 clients, the firm and some of its lawyers are engaged in a separate Mississippi case involving the distribution of settlement money to clients.
In that case, the firm is accused of cheating clients out of their share of a $2 million settlement involving Exide Corp. of Milton, Ga. The corporation is touted as one of the world’s largest producers, distributors and recyclers of lead-acid batteries.
The lawsuit filed by clients associated with the products liability case alleges that most of their settlement money was used by HWN&N to recover costs that were disallowed in related, out-of-state litigation against Exide.
HWN&N has denied any wrongdoing in the Hinds County Circuit Court case that has now run through several years and several judges but has not yet gone to trial.
Much of the action has focused on statute of limitations arguments. James Harris, a Birmingham attorney, said it’s not easy taking his peers to task for their alleged professional misconduct.
"It’s a very hard thing," Harris said. "But at the same time those (clients) have been messed over. They put their trust in them."
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