Koretoff v. Johnson & Johnson

1st mid-trial settlement in a cosmetic talc/mesothelioma case

Plaintiff counsel: Jeffrey Simon (pictured), Stuart Purdy, Marissa Langhoff (Simon Greenstone Panatier PC)

Defense counsel: Mel Bailey, Peter Strotz (King & Spalding)

Link to video of the full trial:

https://cvn.com/proceedings/koretoff-v-arkema-inc-et-al-trial-2019-02-19

Why it made the list:

Since cosmetic talc cases began going to trial regularly in 2016, Johnson & Johnson adopted an aggressive trial strategy of defending claims all the way to a verdict and beyond. This netted the company a number of defense verdicts and appellate wins, but also resulted in numerous headline-grabbing plaintiff verdicts that helped balloon the nationwide caseload of talc claims.

This trial in Los Angeles last March marked the first time J&J elected to settle a talc case mid-trial. The judge announced the confidential settlement to the jury after opening statements and two days of witness testimony.

A small handful of public settlements in talc cases followed, but J&J characterized each agreement as one-off specific to that individual case and not a part of any broader settlement strategy to resolve the thousands of talc cases still pending.

Was there something about the opening statements in this particular case that prompted this first-of-its-kind settlement? Become a CVN subscriber for just $99/month or less and watch for yourself to decide.

See the full list of CVN’s Most Impressive Trials of 2019 – Honorable Mentions