N.Y. Court Defers Ruling on Jurisdictional Challenges in Talc Case, Orders Jurisdictional Discovery

NEW YORK –– A New York court has deferred ruling on a motion to dismiss on jurisdiction grounds filed by Johnson & Johnson defendants in an asbestos cosmetic talcum powder case, finding that the plaintiff had “made a ‘sufficient start’ for this court to grant jurisdictional discovery.”

In reaching the conclusion in its Nov. 26 order, the New York Supreme Court for New York County ordered the parties to conduct discovery specific as to whether the Johnson & Johnson defendants had “sufficient jurisdictional contacts with Kolmar Laboratories in New York” to support the exercise of jurisdiction.

The court asked the …