A bankruptcy judge has again shielded Johnson & Johnson from jury trials in roughly 40,000 pending talc-related lawsuits, advancing the company’s second attempt to resolve mass cancer claims through the chapter 11 system, though he cautioned J&J faces an “uphill battle” ahead, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Judge Michael Kaplan of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Trenton, N.J., on Thursday extended to the healthcare-products company the same protection against talc-related trials enjoyed by its subsidiary LTL Management LLC, a vehicle created by J&J to carry its talc-related liabilities into chapter 11. The freeze on jury trials will last through mid-June while LTL moves through bankruptcy, Judge Kaplan said. His ruling marks the second time he has frozen jury trials in tort litigation alleging that J&J’s talc products cause cancer, which the company denies. The judge granted similar protections to J&J after LTL’s initial entry into chapter 11 in 2021 to give the company breathing room to negotiate with talc claimants and their lawyers on a settlement plan. A federal appeals court threw out that bankruptcy case this month, but LTL filed for bankruptcy again hours later, this time with a settlement offer supported by some plaintiffs’ law firms. That offer, valued at $8.9 billion, would rank among the largest tort settlements ever if accepted.
