U.S. Court of Appeals, 7th District Affirms Summary Judgment for Regional Agribusiness

The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently affirmed summary judgment in favor of one of Foley & Mansfield’s clients, a regional agribusiness. The client was a defendant in a suit arising out of a propane explosion that injured an Illinois man and damaged his house. The injured man alleged that the firm’s client sold propane to him and negligently failed to stop a leak that resulted in the explosion.

Partners in the firm’s Minneapolis office removed the case to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and eventually moved for summary judgment. The District Court granted the motion on the grounds that the plaintiff’s expert disclosures were inadequate and, without expert testimony or other facts to support his claim, the plaintiff could not prove that the firm’s client caused the explosion. The plaintiff appealed to the Seventh Circuit, who affirmed the District Court’s order in all respects.