J&J Unit’s Failed ‘Two-Step’ Talc Bankruptcies Cost $178 Million

Johnson & Johnson‘s failed effort to use bankruptcy to resolve widespread cancer lawsuits has cost about $178 million in legal fees, offering a price tag for an increasingly controversial litigation strategy.

J&J has on two separate occasions placed its subsidiary, LTL Management LLC, into bankruptcy to address tens of thousands of claims that its talc-based baby powder caused cancer. The millions of dollars in fees are part of the rising cost of corporate lawyers, but also the time and effort of pursuing a relatively new legal strategy in an already complicated Chapter 11.

J&J has been trying to employ ...