March 31, 2025: Today, a federal court dismissed the third attempt by Johnson & Johnson to create a mechanism to dispose of talc-related litigation claims outside the Constitutionally-guaranteed jury process. Johnson & Johnson has tried twice to use this “Texas Two-Step” legal maneuver and was unsuccessful, with both of those Chapter 11 cases dismissed as bad faith filings.
In this third unsuccessful attempt to discharge its liabilities in bankruptcy, Johnson & Johnson shopped for what it thought would be a more favorable forum for its third attempted bankruptcy – Texas. In February 2025, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston conducted a two-week trial to determine the validity of the claims, the process through which claimants were permitted to vote, and to hear the objections of the Coalition of Counsel for Justice for Talc Claimants, which included thousands of women injured by J&J’s talc products, some of whom died in the months before the matter was tried.
At the end of an exhaustive analysis of the record, and pursuant to a 57-page opinion, the federal court found that the totality of the record required dismissal. The record included prepetition voting and solicitation irregularities, an unreasonably short voting time for thousands of creditors, and that appointment of a trustee or conversion does not make sense in this case. The Court also noted that “There is no real company or jobs to save here. This case is about whether voters will accept a deal.”
The court’s decision stated: “While the Court’s decision is not an easy one, it is the right one.”
Co-lead trial counsel Brian Glasser stated: “Judge Lopez did the right thing and followed the law. His opinion will be sustained on appeal.”
The Coalition of Counsel for Justice for Talc Claims trial team was co-led by Bailey & Glasser founding partner Brian A. Glasser, Mass Torts Practice Group Leader David L. Selby, Electronically Stored Information Practice Group Leader Katherine E. Charonko, and litigator Elizabeth L. Stryker. Additional members of the BG team includes Bankruptcy Practice Group Leader Jonathan Gold, partners D. Todd Mathews and Joshua Hammack, and Of Counsels Thomas B. Bennett and Michael Shenkman.