Faegre & Benson Secures Summary Judgment for Crop Production Services

Faegre & Benson is pleased to announce that the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the grant of summary judgment in favor of our client, Crop Production Services, Inc. (CPS), entered by the District Court for the Central District of Illinois in John C. Clifford, III v. Crop Production Services, Inc.

CPS was represented by Faegre & Benson partners Ross W. Johnson and Aaron D. Van Oort, and by associate Carolyn Gunkel.

"The court's holding closely tracked the arguments made in CPS's appeal brief," Johnson said.  "Clifford's negligence claim failed because he was unable to establish key elements of it without expert testimony."

The court also rejected Clifford's attempt to persuade the court to employ a res ipsa loquitur-type burden shifting—that is, under the facts of the case, the court would not infer negligence on the part of CPS.