A cadre of legal scholars has thrust itself into the spotlight of Johnson & Johnson’s talc unit’s Chapter 11 proceedings, fervently urging the New Jersey bankruptcy court to quash the case. In a forceful amicus brief filed on Friday, the seven professors castigate the bankruptcy maneuvers as a thinly veiled attempt to shield J&J’s assets from the deluge of tort claims leveled by thousands alleging harm from its talc products.
J&J Plays Its Last Card
With razor-sharp precision, the brief lambasts LTL Management’s bankruptcy filing as a strategic ploy concocted in the wake of J&J’s contentious “Texas two-step” corporate maneuvers. The professors argue that the bankruptcy scheme, far from seeking genuine reorganization or creditor benefit, is a calculated gambit to minimize estate value to the detriment of talc victims.
“J&J’s orchestration of LTL’s bankruptcy is a direct affront to the bedrock principles of the Chapter 11 system,” the brief contends vehemently. By consigning billions in potential talc liabilities to LTL while ring-fencing profitable consumer assets, J&J’s motives are laid bare: shielding itself from accountability at the expense of innocent victims.
The scathing rebuke of J&J’s strategy is bolstered by two additional amicus filings from legal experts, all aligned in support of the motion to dismiss the Chapter 11 case spearheaded by the official committee of tort claimants of LTL. Representing over 38,000 talc victims, the committee decries the bankruptcy as a bad-faith maneuver aimed at circumventing accountability.
In a stark warning, the professors caution against allowing J&J’s playbook to set a dangerous precedent, facilitating the exploitation of Chapter 11 as a shield against liability. Permitting LTL’s bankruptcy to proceed, they argue, would embolden a chilling trend of corporate subterfuge, eroding the system’s integrity.
The urgency of the matter is palpable as a five-day trial looms before U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Michael B. Kaplan in Trenton. With the eyes of the legal fraternity fixed on the impending proceedings, the trial promises to be a crucible of justice, where the fate of J&J’s talc liabilities hangs in the balance.
As the legal showdown unfolds, the battle lines are drawn, pitting corporate interests against the quest for accountability and justice for talc victims. In the crucible of judicial scrutiny, the true essence of the Chapter 11 system and the integrity of corporate governance will be tested.
