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Counsel for McKivison, Tom Kline of Kline & Specter PC and Jason Itkin of Arnold & Itkin LLP, said in a joint statement Tuesday that they are pleased that the trial judge has overruled Monsanto's numerous attempts to "derail the clear message behind the jury's verdict — namely that Roundup causes cancer and Monsanto is liable for its reckless conduct."

"However, we also believe the reduction of the jury's verdict is a clear departure from established Pennsylvania law that we plan to appeal seeking reinstatement of the jury's damage award to compensate John McKivison and deter Monsanto's unapologetic behavior for selling its carcinogenic product to unsuspecting consumers," they said.

McKivison's award isn't the first 10-figure verdict against Monsanto that courts have reduced.

Last year, a Missouri jury awarded $1.56 billion to three people who claimed their cancer was caused by Roundup, but a Missouri state judge later reduced the damages award to just $611 million.

And a jury in Oakland, California, awarded plaintiffs Alva and Alberta Pilliod $2.06 billion in May 2019 after a jury found Roundup likely caused their cancers, but a state judge later slashed that award to $86.7 million.

Monsanto has been litigating product liability claims over Roundup for years. The company has already agreed to pay $9.6 billion to settle hundreds of thousands of claims in multidistrict litigation in 2020, but the federal judge overseeing that litigation refused to let the company settle future claims.

McKivison is represented by Charles Becker, Thomas R. Kline and Tobi L. Millrood of Kline & Specter PC and Jason Itkin of Arnold & Itkin LLP.

The defendants are represented by Michael Hofmann of Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP, Chanda A. Miller of Barnes & Thornburg LLP, Joseph H. Blum, Katelyn A. Romeo, Nicolai Schurko and Erin L. Leffler of Shook Hardy & Bacon LLP and Anthony Upshaw of McDermott Will & Emery LLP.

The case is John McKivison v. Monsanto et al., case number 220100337, in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania.