Committee moves to end Johnson & Johnson talc unit’s exclusivity

By Sarah Lizee

Olympia, Wash., June 5 – Johnson & Johnson subsidiary LTL Management LLC should have its exclusive periods to file and solicit votes on a Chapter 11 plan terminated, the official committee of talc claimants told the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey in a motion filed Monday.

The committee said its position remains that LTL’s present bankruptcy case was filed in bad faith and that this case, like the one before it, should be dismissed.

Notably, the committee, the U.S. trustee, state attorneys general and several other parties have moved to dismiss the case.

The committee said Monday that it “cannot stand idly by” while LTL attempts to confirm a plan that will result in de minimis payments to talc victims without also offering talc claimants an alternative.

“During LTL’s first bankruptcy case, the [committee] was of the view that a confirmable plan that paid talc claimants in full and preserved all due process rights was possible, but that such plan would never be propounded by LTL,” the committee said in its motion.

During the first case, the committee had drafted a plan and related documents, including a disclosure statement and trust documents. The group said it was waiting for the debtor to file its preferred plan in order to do so.

However, LTL never filed a plan in the first case, which was dismissed by the Third Circuit’s mandate.

As such, the committee said it didn’t have the chance to submit its competing plan.

“Now in LTL 2.0, the debtor has filed a plan of reorganization to implement J&J’s alleged deal with certain law firms that claim to represent talc claimants,” the committee said.

“The debtor’s new mantra for LTL 2.0 is: take it to a vote! But if the court determines that a plan process will proceed and victims are going to vote, they deserve a choice – a real choice.”

Johnson & Johnson is a consumer products company based in New Brunswick, N.J. The LTL Management subsidiary filed its initial Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition on Oct. 14, 2021 under case number 21-30589. The new case was filed on April 4 under case number 23-12825.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.