Drew York
Gray Reed
Partner

1601 Elm Street, Suite 4600
Dallas, TX 75201
D: (469) 320-6114
O: (214) 954-4135
F: (469) 320-6883
dyork@grayreed.com

Co-Chair of the Litigation Department, Drew York focuses his practice on representing plaintiffs and defendants in class action/mass tort litigation and complex commercial disputes before federal and state courts all over Texas and in many other jurisdictions across the country. He has obtained successful trial verdicts, dismissals and settlements in disputes involving a wide variety of challenging issues, ranging from genetically-modified crops and securities fraud to consumer finance and residential construction liability.

Drew played a major role in two significant cases to the agriculture industry.  He currently represents thousands of corn farmers with claims in the Syngenta corn class action arising from the sale of two unapproved genetically-modified corn varieties in major U.S. corn export markets.  Drew was a member of the trial team that successfully obtained a $217.7 million verdict for Kansas corn farmers in June 2017.  That verdict ranked as the 10th largest in the United States that year.  The verdict ultimately led to a nationwide class settlement $1.51 billion settlement with Syngenta that was approved by the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas in December 2018.  Drew also played a major role resolving the In re Genetically Modified Rice Litigation multidistrict litigation involving the contamination of U.S. rice supplies with a genetically-modified variety developed by an international chemical and agricultural company. He was a member of the court-appointed legal team that reached a $750 million settlement on behalf of approximately 11,000 rice farmers across five states. Drew was also a member of the trial teams that took three bellwether trials to successful jury verdicts, one of which was ranked as the 42nd largest verdict in 2010 according to Verdict Search.

Clients also count on Drew to resolve many types of complex commercial disputes. He has significant experience in defending financial institutions against consumer actions involving automotive and personal loans and protecting homebuilders against defective construction claims brought by homeowners under the Texas Residential Construction Liability Act. In 2018 alone, Drew represented one lender in three separate arbitrations that went to final hearings.  The consumers collectively sought $2.38 million in damages, but recovered only $8.818.66. Drew helps clients resolve disputes involving other issues as well, including breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, title issues and DTPA claims.

Representative Experience

Class Action and Mass Tort Experience

In re Genetically Modified Rice Litigation, 4:06-MD-01811-CDP, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri

  • Member of legal team that reached a $750 million settlement with Bayer AG and its affiliates to compensate U.S. rice farmers relating to the discovery of Bayer’s genetically modified LLRice in the U.S. rice supply.
  • Member of trial team that obtained a $48 million judgment in the Circuit Court of Lonoke County, Arkansas against Bayer AG, Bayer CropScience AG, and Bayer CropScience LP for damages sustained by twelve rice farmers. The jury verdict, and corresponding judgment, awarded the twelve farmers one hundred percent of the compensatory damages sought (approximately $6 million) and $42 million in punitive damages. The Arkansas Supreme Court affirmed the judgment in all respects in 2011.  The jury’s verdict ranked as the 42nd largest verdict in the United States in 2010 according to Verdict Search.
  • Counsel for a Texas rice mill and exporter that settled claims with Bayer for more than $7 million.
  • Member of two trial teams that obtained judgments totaling $3.5 million against Bayer on behalf of 2 Missouri, 2 Arkansas and 1 Mississippi farmer in U.S. District Court (Eastern District of Missouri).

In re Chinese-Manufactured Drywall Products Liability Litigation, 2:09-MD-2047-EEF, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana:

  • Counsel for homebuilder defending against claims against claims made by homeowners for allegedly defective Chinese drywall. Also represent same homebuilder on contribution and indemnification claims against drywall manufacturer.

In re Tremont Securities Law, State Law and Insurance Litigation, 1:11-CV-01687-TPG, United States District Court for the Southern District of New York

  • Counsel for trust that brought suit against “feeder fund” that invested with Bernard Madoff.

Professional Activities, Memberships & Affiliations

  • State Bar of Texas

Honors

  • Selected for inclusion in Texas Super Lawyers – Rising Stars Edition (2008-2017).
  • Drew York was a member of the plaintiffs’ trial team in Randy Schafer et al. v. Bayer CropScience LP, et al., in which a Lonoke County, Arkansas jury returned a $47,975,605.00 verdict for a dozen Arkansas rice farmers after two different types of Bayer CropScience’s experimental genetically modified rice were found in the United States rice supply in 2006  and 2007. That verdict was recognized as the 42nd largest verdict awarded for 2010 in Verdict Search’s “Top 100 Verdict in America for 2010”.