J&J Talc Unit Bankruptcy Judge Must Explain Fee Request Sidestep

A Houston judge who dismissed Johnson & Johnson‘s third attempt to resolve its mass tort talc liabilities in bankruptcy must clarify why he closed the case without addressing pending creditor committee retention and fee applications.

Judge Keith P. Ellison of the US District Court for the Southern District of Texas issued an order Friday directing US Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez “to clarify the legal basis and rationale” for an April decision declining to address outstanding administrative issues in the Chapter 11 case for J&J unit Red River Talc LLC.

Ellison’s one-paragraph order comes in response to an appeal filed ...