Johnson & Johnson yesterday accused attorneys for people who have sued the pharmaceutical giant over its talc products of sharing confidential documents with Reuters in what it called a “calculated effort” to try its subsidiary’s bankruptcy case in the press, Reuters reported. In a letter filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New Jersey, attorneys for J&J and LTL Management LLC, a bankrupt subsidiary that the company set up to hold its talc liabilities, claimed that lawyers for two committees representing plaintiffs shared at least two confidential documents with the news organization. Lawyers for the plaintiffs’ committees engaged in a “calculated effort” to “try this case in the press rather than in the court,” LTL attorney Gregory Gordon said in a court hearing shortly after the letter was filed. “Counsel for the committees, apparently, are feeding documents to the press. And we’re specifically aware it’s being done with Reuters,” Gordon said. The J&J lawyers said that the documents it said were leaked were subject to a protective order issued by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Michael Kaplan. The letter asks Reuters to return the documents it said were leaked and to refrain from disclosing any confidential information they contain. J&J’s lawyers said that if Reuters declined, they would consider petitioning the court to compel the news organization to do so. A Reuters spokesperson called the claims without merit. Read more.
In related news, law professors opposed to Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder bankruptcy can help opponents of the company make legal arguments against the controversial chapter 11 case, a judge ruled, Bloomberg Law reported. Bankruptcy Judge Michael B. Kaplan agreed to accept a series of legal papers attacking J&J’s decision to put a unit into bankruptcy as a way of resolving lawsuits filed by more than 38,000 people who claim they were harmed by tainted talc in baby powder. Kaplan is scheduled to hold a trial later this month of whether to dismiss the bankruptcy case as requested by lawyers for the talc victims. Read more. (Subscription required.)
