Bates White expert testifies in LTL bankruptcy case
LTL Management, LLC, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson (J&J), retained Bates White in connection with its Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding. In recent years J&J has faced a wave of lawsuits alleging harm from talcum powder use, with over 38,000 cases pending. LTL filed for bankruptcy protection to permanently and equitably resolve all claims relating to its cosmetic talc products. LTL sought to confirm a Chapter 11 plan of reorganization that established a trust to efficiently process and pay such claims.
Bates White submitted an expert report in relation to the debtor's motion for a preliminary injunction, evaluating the economic benefits of resolving personal injury and wrongful death claims through an administrative system that typically results from bankruptcy reorganization, in contrast with litigation in the tort system. The debtor received a temporary stay of litigation, and the case was transferred from North Carolina to New Jersey.
The firm subsequently submitted expert reports in that court in LTL’s second bankruptcy petition, analyzing LTL's costs to defend and resolve talc personal injury claims in the tort system, both in the near term and long term and testified in the second Motion to Dismiss hearing.