stock image of talc powder
New Brunswick, NJ - Closing arguments in the second lawsuit to go to trial in Johnson & Johnson’s home state over claims that asbestos supposedly present in the company’s cosmetic talc products are set for October 9, and will be webcast live by Courtroom View Network.
The trial in plaintiff Rosalind Henry’s lawsuit has been closely watched, after a previous New Jersey jury in the same court slammed J&J with a $117 million verdict earlier this year, including $80 million in punitive damages. Those proceedings were similarly webcast and recorded by CVN.
Opening statements in the case took place on September 17. The trial was slated to be the first in New Jersey involving Colgate’s cosmetic talc products, along with being the first talc trial in the country to include both J&J and Colgate as defendants, but both Colgate and J&J’s talc supplier Imerys settled out before jury selection concluded.
J&J’s headquarters are only a few miles away from Judge Ana Viscomi’s courtroom, and the company is a major employer in the Middlesex County area, so verdicts in this potentially defendant-friendly jurisdiction are seen as key indicators in other cases.
So far trials involving claims that asbestos in J&J’s talc products causes mesothelioma have taken place in California, New Jersey and South Carolina. The bulk have taken place within Los Angeles County’s asbestos docket, including two that recently ended in mistrials.
These cases are distinct from claims that talc products used on women’s genitals can cause ovarian cancer. Most of those trials have taken place in St. Louis, Missouri, including one earlier this summer recorded by CVN that ended in a massive $4.6 billion verdict.
The plaintiff in the current New Jersey trial is represented by South Carolina-based law firm Motley Rice. The same trial team is set to take another J&J talc case to trial next month in Charleston.
J&J is represented by Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP.
E-mail David Siegel at dsiegel@cvn.com
