Mealey's Asbestos Bankruptcy : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's Asbestos Bankruptcy

October 04, 2024
J&J’s 3rd Bankruptcy Attempt Triggers More Briefing On Talc Firm’s Role

TRENTON, N.J. — A bankruptcy stay does not apply to an effort at removing a law firm from the asbestos-talc Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee (PSC), Johnson & Johnson argues in a second motion to remove and related letter briefs filed in a federal court in New Jersey claiming that in a “severe breach of trust,” the firm voted against the bankruptcy plan without the client authority to do so. But in its own filing, the firm tells the court that the stay imposed by the bankruptcy of the Johnson & Johnson entity should apply and calls the company’s position “highly suspect” given that a state court judge already found no reason to remove the firm from its role.
October 01, 2024
Appeal Of Venue Ruling For Chapter 11 Talc Debtor Denied Pending Mediation

HOUSTON — A Texas federal judge on Sept. 30 denied a request by the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the Chapter 11 case of talc mining company Barretts Minerals Inc. (BMI) to hear an interlocutory appeal of a bankruptcy court’s refusal to transfer the case to Montana, saying the denial is without prejudice to refiling the motion if ongoing mediation to resolve the debtor’s talc liabilities through a consensual plan of reorganization fails.
October 01, 2024
Beasley Allen, Smith Law Talc Firms Sue Each Other, Allege Breach Of Contract

Two law firms at the center of litigation alleging that consumer talc contains asbestos turned on each other recently, with each suing the other for breach of contract in a pair of federal court lawsuits alleging that financial motives interfered with decision making about Johnson & Johnson’s third attempt at a bankruptcy to resolve the litigation.
September 25, 2024
9th Circuit Affirms Verdict In False Claims Suit Against Asbestos Screener

MISSOULA, Mont. — A trial court properly denied summary judgment on False Claims Act and statute of limitations grounds to a Libby, Mont., medical screening company and properly instructed the jury about the standard for evaluating allegations that the company submitted claims under a special Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act program for asbestos-exposed Libby residents, a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel said in a Sept. 24 unpublished opinion.
September 24, 2024
Revlon Bankruptcy Judge Certifies Talc Claimants’ Appeal For 2nd Circuit Review

NEW YORK — A New York federal bankruptcy judge on Sept. 23 certified for direct appeal to the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals his recent ruling barring asbestos talc plaintiffs in 42 personal injury lawsuits from pursuing claims against former debtor Revlon Inc. under the discharge and injunction provisions of its confirmed Chapter 11 plan of reorganization.
September 24, 2024
Small Talc Supplier Hits Bankruptcy With Plan To Reorganize, Create Asbestos Trust

TRENTON, N.J. — Two days after filing a Chapter 11 petition, a consensual plan of reorganization and the plan’s disclosure statement in New Jersey federal bankruptcy court, raw materials supplier Presperse Corp. filed a motion seeking conditional approval of the disclosure statement, which outlines the debtor’s proposal to reorganize by creating a $50 million trust and channeling all asbestos talc personal injury claims to the trust for evaluation and payment.
September 24, 2024
Discovery Ruling Issued In Asbestos Coverage Row Involving Insolvent Insurer

OMAHA, Neb. — A Nebraska federal magistrate judge granted in part National Indemnity Co. (NICO)’s motion to compel discovery of an insurer in its suit seeking to enforce obligations by multiple insurers, one of whom is now insolvent, for the liability NICO incurred related to claims for asbestos exposure, finding that the attorneys’ eyes only designation (AEO) must be removed from discovery material due, in part, to the insurer’s failure to “articulate why an AEO designation is the right tool to prevent this harm.”
September 23, 2024
Dismissal Sought For J&J 3rd Spinoff Bankruptcy Proposing $9 Billion Trust

HOUSTON — Johnson & Johnson (J&J) on Sept. 20 filed the third bankruptcy case of an affiliate saddled with the thousands of asbestos talc ovarian cancer claims leveled against the health products giant, and the next day attorneys representing asbestos claimants who did not vote to accept the debtor’s plan of reorganization filed a motion to dismiss the case like the two before it for being filed in bad faith.
September 23, 2024
California Jury Awards $16.79M In Laboratory Asbestos Exposure Case

LOS ANGELES — A California judge awarded $16,679,000 to a husband and wife in a mesothelioma case involving exposures to asbestos in laboratories in Alaska, Arizona and California that featured a battle over genetics with a second defendant that avoided trial.
September 20, 2024
Bankruptcy Judge Confirms Reorganization Plan Of Cosmetics Company Ben Nye

LOS ANGELES — A California federal bankruptcy judge entered an order and findings of fact and conclusions of law on Sept. 19 confirming a Chapter 11 Subchapter V plan of reorganization for family-run cosmetics company Ben Nye Co. Inc. that includes an injunction barring claims against the reorganized debtor, including asbestos talc personal injury claims.
September 20, 2024
Asbestos Talc Claimants Seek 2nd Circuit Review Of Bankruptcy Injunction Ruling

NEW YORK — Asbestos talc plaintiffs in 42 personal injury lawsuits say the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals should decide whether a New York federal bankruptcy judge erred in finding that they cannot pursue claims against former debtor Revlon Inc. under the discharge and injunction provisions of its confirmed Chapter 11 plan of reorganization.
September 19, 2024
Washington Court Affirms $5.75M Asbestos Verdict Against Volkswagen

SEATTLE — A Washington court had jurisdiction over a German automobile manufacturer based on its import deal with a U.S. subsidiary, there was sufficient evidence linking those two companies to a man’s mesothelioma and a trial judge did not err in instructing the jury on causation, a state appellate court said in an unpublished opinion affirming a $5.75 million asbestos verdict.
September 19, 2024
Pa. Court Rejects Expert, Causation Challenges After $3.3M Asbestos Verdict

HARRISBURG, Pa. — A Pennsylvania appellate court found no fault with a trial judge’s conclusion about expert testimony on causation and duty or in allowing an asbestos suit against an employer that ended in a bench trial and more than $3.3 million verdict, but said that the trial judge erred in reducing delay damages for various issues in the case, including a prolonged stay that corresponded with the coronavirus pandemic.
September 18, 2024
AII Calls Dismissal Motion A ‘Bad Faith’ Effort To Avoid Talc Discovery

NEW YORK — An asbestos plaintiff’s motion to dismiss his case is not an attempt to avoid the rigors of litigation but is a “bad faith” effort at avoiding discovery into expert studies behind talc litigation, American International Industries (AII) argues in urging a federal judge in New York to deny his motion and permit limited discovery into the experts that would otherwise be unavailable.
September 17, 2024
Jury Awards $39M In Talc Pleurodesis Mesothelioma Case

WOBURN, Mass. — A Massachusetts jury awarded $39,081,142 to a couple for a man’s mesothelioma arising from exposure to talc used during a medical procedure, sources told Mealey Publications.
September 17, 2024
Talc Defendant Claims ‘Egregious Misconduct’ In New Jersey Asbestos Case

LOS ANGELES — Asbestos firm Simmons Hanley Conroy committed “egregious misconduct” by communicating with and obtaining a statement from a corporate representative without the knowledge of the defendant or counsel, talc defendant American International Industries (AII) alleges in asking a California judge for a protective order and to quash the New Jersey state court deposition.
September 16, 2024
LLT Management Gets Hearing Delayed Pending Cert Petition Over Case Dismissal

TRENTON, N.J. — A New Jersey federal bankruptcy judge granted a request from Johnson & Johnson (J&J) spinoff LLT Management LLC to delay a hearing on closing its Chapter 11 case until after the time to petition the U.S. Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari to review dismissal of the case has passed.
September 12, 2024
New Disclosures Explain J&J Stock Drop, Not Coincidence, Securities Class Says

PHILADELPHIA — Even entertaining Johnson & Johnson’s incorrect claim that any corrective disclosures in a case must be of “pristine newness,” a trial judge properly certified a class after concluding Johnson & Johnson entities never fully explained away a multi-billion-dollar drop in stock price, a securities class told the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in an answering brief.
September 11, 2024
Delaware Judge Finds Asbestos Trust Timing Rules Apply, Bar Tort Claim

WILMINGTON, Del. — Because a woman filed her asbestos-related action against the Celotex Asbestos Settlement Trust outside the period called for by the trust’s procedures, her action is untimely, a Delaware judge said in granting a motion to dismiss.
September 09, 2024
New York Court Consolidates Moline, Northwell Asbestos Studies Appeals

NEW YORK — A New York appellate court consolidated two appeals involving a ruling quashing subpoenas to asbestos expert Jacqueline Moline and Northwell Health Inc. and said the cases will be heard in the September term as requested.
September 09, 2024
Plaintiffs Dismiss Suit Challenging BNSF, Insurer’s Asbestos Payment ‘Float’

GREAT FALLS, Mont. — Montana asbestos plaintiffs who sued BNSF Railway Co. and its insurer Zurich American Insurance Co. for allegedly trading on “human suffering” by delaying payment and refusing to settle in an effort to profit off the “float” between the time when they receive claims and when they make payments filed a notice of dismissal without prejudice in their federal court suit.
September 09, 2024
Wisconsin Court Dismisses Asbestos Defendant’s Take-Home Exposure Appeal

MILWAUKEE — A company found 50% liable for a $9.7 million verdict in a take-home asbestos case was granted voluntary dismissal of its appeal, according to a docket entry.
September 05, 2024
Cosmetics Company Ben Nye Says Bankruptcy Plan ‘Fair,’ Should Be Confirmed

LOS ANGELES — A family-run cosmetics company in California has amended its Chapter 11 plan of reorganization to include a guaranteed $50,000 payment for asbestos claimants and says in its proposed order and findings of fact and conclusions of law that the plan should be confirmed because it is “fair and equitable” and meets all requirements of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.
September 03, 2024
California Court Orders New Asbestos Trial After ‘Fatally Inconsistent’ Verdict

LOS ANGELES — A jury verdict finding an asbestos stucco company liable for design defect under two separate theories but not apportioning it any liability for a man’s mesothelioma is a “fatally inconsistent” result that requires a new trial on the strict product liability design defect theory and liability, a California appeals court said in an unpublished Aug. 30 opinion, otherwise affirming the verdict.
August 27, 2024
Georgia-Pacific Spinoff Not A Debtor, So Case Should Be Tossed, Committee Argues

RICHMOND, Va. — The Chapter 11 case of Georgia-Pacific spinoff Bestwall LLC should be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction because Bestwall, with billions of dollars available to it from its corporate parent, is not a true debtor under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, the Official Committee of Asbestos Claimants argues in its Aug. 26 opening appellant brief in a direct appeal to the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals of denial of its motion to dismiss.