It's true in sports and in litigation: Sometimes the best defense is a good offense.

Accused of not disclosing payments to two expert witnesses in a 2016 trial against Johnson & Johnson, Houston plaintiffs attorney W. Mark Lanier defended his actions with a counterattack, claiming that a defense expert failed to disclose $1 million of payments.

Lanier made the charge in a Wednesday court filing before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which is hearing Johnson & Johnson's appeal of a $502 million verdict awarded for alleged defects in a hip implant made by subsidiary DePuy Orthopaedics Inc.