Plaintiffs Steering Committee Opposes J&J’s Efforts to Stay Talcum Powder MDL Proceedings

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. –– The Plaintiffs Steering Committee has filed a brief opposing Johnson & Johnson’s notice of bankruptcy filing and stay of proceedings in the national talcum powder multidistrict litigation docket, arguing that it is “legally flawed and procedurally defective.”

In the Oct. 20 brief filed in the U.S. District Court for the district of New Jersey, the plaintiffs said that there is “no question that section 362 of the Bankruptcy Code provides by its express terms for an automatic stay only for debtors and their property.”

“Second,” the brief said, “while it is possible for the stay of …