Litigators of the Week: This Huge Talc Verdict is One for the Record Books--–But It Almost Didn't Happen at All
A talcum powder trial in Los Angeles ended with a bang on Monday--–a $417 million bang, to be exact. But jurors almost didn't hear the case at all.
August 24, 2017 at 11:41 PM
23 minute read
A talcum powder trial in Los Angeles ended with a bang on Monday––a $417 million bang, to be exact. But jurors almost didn't hear the case at all.
On the first day of trial, Johnson & Johnson's lawyers came out swinging, immediately calling for a mistrial after objecting several times to plaintiff attorney Allen Smith's remarks during his opening statement.
“We were in a massive fight,” acknowledged Mark Robinson, of Robinson Calcagnie Inc. of Newport Beach, California, who, along with Smith, of The Smith Law Firm in Ridgeland, Mississippi, spearheaded a team of more than 15 lawyers in the first talcum powder trial in California.
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