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Good morning. Johnson & Johnson’s plan to use a $8.9 billion settlement and the bankruptcy process to resolve thousands of lawsuits over talc products faces a major test in a hearing set for today before a federal bankruptcy judge. Plus, a judge gives preliminary approval to JPMorgan Chase’s $290 million settlement with women who say they were abused by the late Jeffrey Epstein while the bank turned a blind eye to his sex trafficking, and the U.S. Supreme Court issues a flood of orders. Scroll on!
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REUTERS/Mike Segar/Illustration
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Johnson & Johnson’s proposed $8.9 billion settlement of thousands of lawsuits alleging that its talc products cause cancer faces a crucial hurdle today, as a U.S. bankruptcy judge considers whether or not a J&J subsidiary may resolve them by filing for bankruptcy a second time, Dietrich Knauth reports.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Michael Kaplan in Trenton, New Jersey, whose ruling that backed subsidiary LTL Management’s first bankruptcy filing was overturned by the 3rd Circuit, will weigh whether to let the new bankruptcy move forward. LTL executives including chief legal officer John Kim are expected to testify, as are plaintiffs’ attorneys Jim Murdica and Mikal Watts, who led negotiations on the $8.9 billion settlement.
After the 3rd Circuit tossed LTL’s first bankruptcy, LTL almost immediately filed for bankruptcy again, this time arguing that it has more support from plaintiffs for a settlement of current and future lawsuits alleging that J&J’s baby powder and other talc products caused mesothelioma, ovarian and other cancers. J&J has denied the allegations, saying that its talc products are safe.
Attorneys representing cancer victims, along with the DOJ’s bankruptcy watchdog, have called for LTL’s second bankruptcy to be dismissed as an abuse of U.S. bankruptcy law.
Kaplan has said he expects to rule by early August.
In the meantime, the first trial over J&J’s talc products in nearly two years is nearing its end.
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- The U.S. Supreme Court rejected inventor Franz Wakefield’s challenge to a patent ruling on the grounds that one of the judges who issued the decision, Federal Circuit Judge Pauline Newman, is now facing a probe into her fitness to serve. (Reuters)
- Longtime University of Colorado law professor Paul Campos, who says he is the only Latino on the faculty, sued the university and its law school dean, claiming that he is paid less than his white colleagues. In his complaint in Colorado federal court, Campos also alleges that law school dean Lolita Buckner Inniss retaliated against him for raising concerns about his compensation and for taking parental leave. The school and dean did not immediately respond to requests for comment. (Reuters)
- O’Melveny & Myers asked a Manhattan federal judge to award more than $139 million in legal fees to American Airlines after more than a decade of litigation in a case accusing flight booking company Sabre of anticompetitive practices that culminated in a $1 trial victory last year. Earlier this month, Sabre lost its bid to block O’Melveny from seeking any fees at all. Sabre and its lawyers at Skadden had argued American Airlines was not entitled to millions of dollars in legal fees after winning $1 in nominal damages. (Reuters)
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That’s how much Georgetown University Law Center received as a donation from Daniel Tsai, chairman of Taiwan-based financial conglomerate Fubon Group, who received an LL.M. at the school in 1979. The university said the donation, which is the largest monetary gift in its history, will help fund construction of a 200,000 square-foot building on the law school’s Washington, D.C., campus.
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The U.S. Supreme Court showed in its rulings this month on the Voting Rights Act and the Indian Child Welfare Act that it’s still capable of surprises, even with a supermajority of justices appointed by Republican presidents. But not when it comes to corporate arbitration clauses. Alison Frankel explains why a 5-4 ruling last Friday that allows defendants to pause underlying litigation while they appeal trial court decisions denying motions to compel arbitration should be regarded as a retrenchment. It’s a reminder, Frankel says, that since 2011’s AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion and 2013’s American Express Co. v. Italian Colors Restaurant, the Supreme Court has almost always sided with companies that have imposed individual arbitration on workers and consumers.
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“Seasonings denies that there is anything ‘not cool’ about independently creating a trademark over 40 years ago and obtaining a registration for that trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark office.“
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- Donald Trump aide Walt Nauta is expected in federal court in Florida to face charges in connection with the mishandling of classified documents. Trump has pleaded not guilty to federal criminal charges that he unlawfully kept national security documents when he left office and lied to officials who sought to recover them. Nauta and Trump were released after an initial court appearance without having to post bond and were ordered not to talk to other witnesses. Nauta did not initially enter a plea then because he did not have a local attorney to appear with him in court.
- The South Carolina Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments challenging the state’s ban on abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy. A state judge in May temporarily blocked the new law, ruling that it should be considered by the state Supreme Court before taking effect. State Circuit Judge Clifton Newman granted reproductive rights groups’ motion to block legislation signed by Republican Governor Henry McMaster. The ruling allowed a previous law permitting abortions up to around 22 weeks to stay in effect until the state’s highest court has reviewed the new ban.
- U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein will weigh Donald Trump’s effort to move his criminal case from Manhattan state court to federal court. Trump is charged with falsifying business records connected to a hush money payment allegedly made to porn star Stormy Daniels prior to the 2016 election. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has pushed back against moving the case, arguing that Trump is not entitled to the change in venue because he is not a federal officer. Trump, who has pleaded not guilty, is not expected to attend the hearing.
- A U.S. bankruptcy judge in New Jersey at a hearing will consider the sale of Bed Bath & Beyond’s business data and publicity rights to Overstock.com, which won an auction for a position of the assets of the bankrupt home goods chain. Overstock emerged as the winning bidder for Bed Bath & Beyond’s intellectual property and mobile platform in a deal worth $21.5 million. Bed Bath & Beyond stores are not part of the deal. Overstock had offered to buy some Bed Bath & Beyond assets under a “stalking horse” bid, prompting the chain to launch an auction to solicit counter offers. Bed Bath & Beyond filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April.
- In San Francisco federal court, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer is expected at a scheduling conference to discuss a trial date in the case of Mike Lynch, who was extradited last month to the U.S. to face criminal charges over the $11 billion sale of software company Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard. Lynch, co-founder of Autonomy, has denied any wrongdoing. He fought extradition proceedings but Britain’s High Court in April refused to grant him permission to appeal.
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Court calendars are subject to last-minute docket changes.
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- Lordstown Motors filed for Chapter 11 protection and put itself up for sale after the U.S. electric truck manufacturer failed to resolve a dispute over a promised investment from Taiwanese company Foxconn. Lordstown simultaneously took legal action against Foxconn in an adversary complaint filed in bankruptcy court, accusing the electronics company of “fraudulent conduct” and a “series of broken promises” in failing to abide by an agreement to invest up to $170 million in the electric-vehicle manufacturer. (Reuters)
- Turning away an appeal by Charter Day School, the U.S. Supreme Court left in place a lower court’s decision that the North Carolina public charter school’s dress code requiring girls to wear skirts discriminated against students based on gender in violation of the 14th Amendment. The plaintiffs sued under a federal law commonly known as Section 1983 that allows individuals to take state officials to court for alleged violations of their constitutional or statutory rights. (Reuters)
- The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a bid by Apple and Broadcom to revive their challenges to Caltech data-transmission patents in an infringement case in which the university’s earlier $1.1 billion jury verdict against the companies was thrown out. The Federal Circuit, which specializes in patent cases, ruled against the companies’ arguments because they failed to bring them up during earlier proceedings at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. (Reuters)
- A 23-year-old was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty to killing five people in a 2022 mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Anderson Lee Aldrich pleaded guilty in Colorado state court to five first-degree murder counts and 46 attempted murder counts, part of an agreement reached with prosecutors that avoided what could have been a lengthy trial. (Reuters)
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Correction: Monday’s edition of the Daily Docket misspelled Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, whose dissent was quoted.
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