Three law firms leading the massive suit against Johnson & Johnson over cancer-causing talc products are now fighting each other in court.
Alabama’s Beasley Allen sued Smith Law Firm and Porter Malouf on Tuesday, alleging that the two firms owe it more than $1 million in litigation expenses related to the J&J case. Beasley Allen also says Smith Law and its founder Robert Allen Smith pushed clients to vote in favor of a controversial settlement deal in the case because of pressure to pay off a large debt—"perhaps as high as $240 million"—to its outside litigation funder.
“The financial problems of Defendants Smith and Smith Law have now grown to the point that they are actively undercutting Beasley Allen in settlement negotiations with Johnson & Johnson in an effort to get a settlement that would alleviate their financial problems, but which would not in Beasley Allen’s opinion be in the best interest of the joint venture clients,” Beasley Allen said in the complaint, filed in a federal court in Alabama.
Porter Malouf did not immediately respond to comment requests.
J&J is trying for a third time to resolve talc litigation, offering a $6.5 billion settlement covering ovarian cancer claims. The company funneled that liability to a subsidiary, which filed for bankruptcy.
The deal must be approved by 75% of the talc claimants...
Dangote Group has dismissed as false and malicious a publication alleging that its President, Aliko Dangote, distanced himself from Tony Elumelu, describing the report as entirely baseless. In a s...