J&J Talc Creditor Firms Decry Judge’s Failure to Address Fees

A Houston bankruptcy judge who dismissed the Chapter 11 case for Johnson & Johnson’s talc liability unit improperly refused to address professional retention and fee applications for a committee of cancer patients, a group of firms said.

Brown Rudnick LLP, Paul Hastings LLP and others selected to represent tens of thousands of personal injury claimants in the bankruptcy for Red River Talc LLC on Thursday urged the US District Court for the Southern District of Texas to rectify a “clear legal error” by Judge Christopher Lopez.

The judge, who authored a lengthy opinion in March throwing out J&J’s third attempt ...