Judge John Porto. (Courtesy photo) 'I Was Kind of Dumbfounded': J&J Lawyers Testify in Talc Disqualification Hearing
Johnson & Johnson's worldwide vice president of litigation, Erik Haas, and Jim Murdica, outside counsel at Barnes & Thornburg, testified on Monday that they were shocked to find out a former member of their team had been working with plaintiffs' lawyer Andy Birchfield as early as April 2023.
March 26, 2024 at 05:00 AM
6 minute read
Legal Ethics and Attorney Discipline
What You Need to Know
- The hearing, before Atlantic County Superior Court Judge John Porto and U.S. Magistrate Judge Rukhsanah Singh, both in New Jersey, comes after Johnson & Johnson filed motions to disqualify Andy Birchfield and his firm from leadership of the talc litigation
- The disqualification motions allege Birchfield partnered with John Conlan, who was a partner at Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath until 2022, to push a talc settlement that was more than double the amount Johnson & Johnson offered as part of the second bankruptcy of its subsidiary, LTL Management.
- 'Listen to my question for once,' Birchfield's lawyer, Jeffrey Pollock, told Haas in a contentious cross examination. 'The process is not the Erik Haas show.'
A senior in-house attorney for Johnson & Johnson told a pair of judges on Monday that an alliance between a former member of his legal team and talc plaintiffs' attorney Andy Birchfield was the "most egregious breach of ethical obligations I have ever heard of, ever seen."
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