Welcome to Law.com Class Actions: Critical Mass, a weekly briefing for class action and mass tort attorneys.
This week: Opening statements began on Tuesday in a two-week trial in Houston over whether to dismiss Johnson & Johnson’s talc bankruptcy. The American Tort Reform Association quickly condemned the confirmation of U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Find out which law firm the City of Los Angeles hired to defend against wildfire lawsuits.
I’m Amanda Bronstad. Feel free to reach out to me with your input. My email is [email protected]. Follow me on LinkedIn or X: @abronstadlaw.
‘It Was Really Hard, and Upsetting’
Johnson & Johnson lawyers Greg Gordon (Jones Day) and Allison Brown (Kirkland & Ellis) argued on Tuesday to approve a proposed $10 bankruptcy plan to resolve thousands of lawsuits alleging talcum powder caused ovarian cancer. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez, of the Southern District of Texas, heard opening statements in the trial, which is expected to last two weeks and feature as many as 40 witnesses.
Several lawyers gave opening statements on why Lopez should dismiss the Chapter 11 case of Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Red River Talc for bad faith, or reject the plan due to voting improprieties that helped garner the support of 82% of talc claimants. Among them was Adam Silverstein (Otterbourg), who represents a coalition of talc claimants opposing the plan, and U.S. Trustee trial attorney Linda Richenderfer.
The opening statements were relatively civil, compared to the vitriol that prompted U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Michael Kaplan, in 2023, at the first hearing in Johnson & Johnson’s second talc bankruptcy in New Jersey, to call on the lawyers to “show professionalism to each other, respect to each other, civility to each other, and advocate zealously.”
Chris Placitella (Cohen Placitella), who is liaison counsel in the talc multidistrict litigation and argued against the plan on Tuesday, even acknowledged:
“It’s been really tough during this case to witness lawyers going after each other. It was really hard, and upsetting. People who are friends of mine on both sides of the aisle taking shots at each other.”
‘Bobby Was in the Trenches With Me’
The American Tort Reform Association has a long history of siding with Republican political leaders who blame lawsuits for stymying America’s businesses. But the Feb. 13 confirmation of President Donald Trump’s pick of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the next Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services? Not so much.
“ATRA urges Sec. Kennedy to prioritize evidence-based policymaking and public health over the financial interests of trial lawyers,” ATRA wrote. That means more “scientific consensus” and less “fringe theories or junk science,” the group said. ATRA called on Kennedy to disclose his financial interests related to litigation against healthcare and pharmaceutical companies – then named plaintiffs’ firms Morgan & Morgan and Wisner Baum, which sued Bayer’s Monsanto over its Roundup pesticide and Merck over the Gardasil HPV vaccine (the first trial of which was just postponed).
I reached out to both firms and got these responses:
R. Brent Wisner (Wisner Baum): “Bobby was in the trenches with me, taking on one of the most powerful chemical companies in the world—a fight we were supposed to lose. But when the jury heard the truth, learned about Monsanto’s corporate malfeasance and how corrupt the EPA had become under Monsanto’s influence, they spoke in the only language that corporations like Monsanto speak—money. Bobby earned his share from that historical fight. Instead of ridiculing Bobby for that heroic work, my fellow liberals falsely paint that work as related to vaccines. It’s simply not true. He has made no money from a single vaccine case.”
John Morgan (Morgan & Morgan): “Our firm does not engage in cases without cause. We had three million people call us for representation last year and only accepted 8% of those cases to even evaluate. We don’t have the time or resources to waste on frivolous matters. The jury verdicts that we receive validate this statement. We trust that Bobby Kennedy will be fair, impartial, and a great protector for the people.”
Who Got the Work?
Munger, Tolles & Olson signed a three-year, $10 million contract with the City of Los Angeles to defend the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power in lawsuits over last month’s Palisades wildfire. The DWP’s Board of Commissioners voted on Feb. 11 to approve the firm, whose attorneys Daniel Levin, Brad Brian and Nicholas Fram appeared this month in the first lawsuits brought over the Palisades fire, which scorched nearly 7,000 structures and killed 12. The same Munger team represented Hawaiian Electric in litigation over the 2023 wildfire in Maui.
Here’s what else is happening:
Facebook Settlement: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit approved a $725 million class action settlement with Facebook over the Cambridge Analytica scandal, overruling two objectors. The panel also approved about $180 million in attorney fees in the case, which alleged that Facebook, now owned by Meta Platforms, sold information about its users to third parties through the Cambridge Analytica app. The Feb. 13 ruling comes about one week after oral arguments before the Ninth Circuit.
PCB Appeal: The Washington Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Feb. 11 in the first PCB verdict against Monsanto involving a school near Seattle. The 2021 verdict, for $185 million, was reversed last year by the Washington Court of Appeals based on a conflict of laws with Missouri over punitive damages and Washington’s statute or repose, which bars product liability claims after 12 years of use. Monsanto, owned by Bayer, has faced several subsequent trials, in which juries have awarded millions of dollars to students, parents and teachers at the school alleging the PCB exposure caused neurological problems.
Bowl Bolster: A Jewish physician who appealed a $4.1 million medical malpractice on grounds that the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas violated his religious freedom by refusing to delay his trial until after Yom Kippur claims his argument was bolstered after the same court closed on Feb. 14 in honor of the Philadelphia Eagles’ Super Bowl win. Peter Gross, represented by Duane Morris, argued his appeal before the Pennsylvania Superior Court in October after a jury awarded damages to a patient who claimed he suffered permanent cardiac damage due to the doctor’s failure to recognize his impending heart attack.
Thanks for reading Critical Mass! I’ll be back next week.