{"id":4279,"date":"2025-02-20T00:29:25","date_gmt":"2025-02-20T00:29:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/pivotal-trial-begins-in-jjs-talc-bankruptcy-kennedys-ties-to-trial-lawyers-trouble-tort-reformers\/"},"modified":"2025-02-20T00:29:25","modified_gmt":"2025-02-20T00:29:25","slug":"pivotal-trial-begins-in-jjs-talc-bankruptcy-kennedys-ties-to-trial-lawyers-trouble-tort-reformers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/pivotal-trial-begins-in-jjs-talc-bankruptcy-kennedys-ties-to-trial-lawyers-trouble-tort-reformers\/","title":{"rendered":"Pivotal Trial Begins in J&J\u2019s Talc Bankruptcy, Kennedy\u2019s Ties to Trial Lawyers Trouble Tort Reformers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Welcome to\u00a0Law.com Class Actions: Critical Mass<\/b>, a weekly briefing for class action and mass tort attorneys.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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This week<\/b>:\u00a0Opening statements began on Tuesday in a two-week trial in Houston over whether to dismiss Johnson & Johnson<\/b>\u2019s talc bankruptcy. The American Tort Reform Association<\/b> quickly condemned the confirmation of U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.<\/b> Find out which law firm the City of Los Angeles<\/b> hired to defend against wildfire lawsuits.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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I\u2019m\u00a0Amanda Bronstad<\/b>. Feel free to reach out to me with your input. My email is\u00a0[email\u00a0protected]<\/span>. Follow me on\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>\u00a0or X:\u00a0@abronstadlaw.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Allison Brown, partner with Kirkland & Ellis in Philadelphia. Taken November 7, 2022. Photo: Ryland West\/ALM<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u2018It Was Really Hard, and Upsetting\u2019<\/h2>\n

Johnson & Johnson lawyers Greg Gordon<\/a> (Jones Day<\/b>) and Allison Brown<\/a> (Kirkland & Ellis<\/b>) argued on Tuesday<\/a> to approve a proposed $10 bankruptcy plan to resolve thousands of lawsuits alleging talcum powder caused ovarian cancer. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez<\/b>, of the Southern District of Texas<\/b>, heard opening statements in the trial, which is expected to last two weeks and feature as many as 40 witnesses.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Several lawyers gave opening statements on why Lopez should dismiss the Chapter 11 case of Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Red River Talc<\/b> 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<\/a> (Otterbourg<\/b>), who represents a coalition of talc claimants opposing the plan, and U.S. Trustee trial attorney Linda Richenderfer<\/b>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The opening statements were relatively civil, compared to the vitriol<\/a> that prompted U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Michael Kaplan<\/b>, in 2023, at the first hearing in Johnson & Johnson\u2019s second talc bankruptcy in New Jersey, to call on the lawyers to \u201cshow professionalism to each other, respect to each other, civility to each other, and advocate zealously.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Chris Placitella<\/a> (Cohen Placitella<\/b>), who is liaison counsel in the talc multidistrict litigation and argued against the plan on Tuesday, even acknowledged:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifies before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions during his confirmation hearing to be Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, on Thursday, January 30, 2025. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi\/ALM<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

\u2018Bobby Was in the Trenches With Me\u2019<\/h2>\n

The American Tort Reform Association<\/b> has a long history of siding with Republican political leaders who blame lawsuits for stymying America\u2019s businesses. But the Feb. 13 confirmation of President Donald Trump<\/b>\u2019s pick of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.<\/b> as the next Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services<\/b>? Not so much.<\/div>\n

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\u201cATRA urges Sec. Kennedy to prioritize evidence-based policymaking and public health over the financial interests of trial lawyers,\u201d ATRA wrote. That means more \u201cscientific consensus\u201d and less \u201cfringe theories or junk science,\u201d the group said. ATRA called on Kennedy to disclose his financial interests related to litigation against healthcare and pharmaceutical companies \u2013 then named plaintiffs\u2019 firms Morgan & Morgan<\/b> and Wisner Baum<\/b>, which sued Bayer<\/b>\u2019s Monsanto<\/b> over its Roundup<\/b> pesticide and Merck<\/b> over the Gardasil<\/b> HPV vaccine (the first trial of which was just postponed<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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I reached out to both firms and got these responses:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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R. Brent Wisner<\/a> (Wisner Baum<\/b>): \u201cBobby was in the trenches with me, taking on one of the most powerful chemical companies in the world\u2014a fight we were supposed to lose. But when the jury heard the truth, learned about Monsanto\u2019s\u00a0corporate malfeasance and how corrupt the EPA had become under Monsanto\u2019s influence, they spoke in the only language that corporations like Monsanto speak\u2014money. 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\u2019s simply not true. He has made no money from a single vaccine case.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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John Morgan<\/a> (Morgan & Morgan<\/b>): \u201cOur 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,\u00a0impartial, and a great protector for the people.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Daniel Levin of Munger, Tolles & Olson. Courtesy photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Who Got the Work?<\/h2>\n

Munger, Tolles & Olson<\/b> signed a three-year, $10 million contract <\/a>with the City of Los Angeles<\/b> to defend the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power<\/b> in lawsuits over last month\u2019s Palisades wildfire. The DWP\u2019s Board of Commissioners voted on Feb. 11 to approve the firm, whose attorneys Daniel Levin<\/a>, Brad Brian<\/a> and Nicholas Fram<\/a> 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<\/b> in litigation over the 2023 wildfire in Maui.<\/div>\n

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Here\u2019s what else is happening:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Facebook Settlement<\/b>: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit<\/b> approved a $725 million class action settlement<\/a> with Facebook<\/b> over the Cambridge Analytica<\/b> 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<\/b>, 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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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PCB Appeal<\/b>: The Washington Supreme Court<\/b> heard oral arguments<\/a> on Feb. 11 in the first PCB verdict against Monsanto<\/b> involving a school near Seattle. The 2021 verdict, for $185 million, was reversed last year by the Washington Court of Appeals<\/b> based on a conflict of laws with Missouri over punitive damages and Washington\u2019s statute or repose, which bars product liability claims after 12 years of use. Monsanto, owned by Bayer,<\/b> 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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Bowl Bolster<\/b>: A Jewish physician who appealed a $4.1 million medical malpractice on grounds that the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas<\/b> violated his religious freedom by refusing to delay his trial until after Yom Kippur claims his argument was bolstered<\/a> after the same court closed on Feb. 14 in honor of the Philadelphia Eagles<\/b>\u2019 Super Bowl<\/b> win. Peter Gross, represented by Duane Morris<\/b>, argued his appeal before the Pennsylvania Superior Court<\/b> in October after a jury awarded damages to a patient who claimed he suffered permanent cardiac damage due to the doctor\u2019s failure to recognize his impending heart attack.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Thanks for reading Critical Mass! I\u2019ll be back next week.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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