A judge has signed off on a bill that brings the total settlement administration costs in a class action against Johnson & Johnson unit De Puy to over $13 million, amid a push by some judges to open the settlement administration gig up to competition.
As Johnson & Johnson loses its second attempt to use bankruptcy protection to resolve tens of thousands of US cases over its talcum powder products, a law firm has launched a class action investigation on behalf of Australian women who regularly used the powder and were later diagnosed with cancer.
A former top judge appointed to decide the first-ever contest to administer a class action settlement has set out his criteria for making the choice, and has warned that giving the firm running a case a monopoly right to dole out the proceeds could lead to higher costs for group members and poorer settlement outcomes.
Shine Lawyers’ bid to recoup “exorbitant” interest on a loan it took out to run pelvic mesh class actions against Johnson & Johnson has raised new ethical dilemmas beyond the usual “sweaty palms and huge vexation” in most group proceedings, a judge has said.
Shine Lawyers can deduct 50 per cent of its fees and all of its costs from a $300 million settlement in pelvic mesh class actions against Johnson & Johnson while a judge mulls whether the law firm’s total bill is fair and reasonable.
A contradictor in two pelvic mesh class actions against Johnson & Johnson has opposed Shine Lawyers recovering $100 million in costs from a $300 million settlement, which a judge has preliminarily found is not fair and reasonable to group members.
A judge has savaged Shine Lawyers over its failure to present a signed settlement agreement to the court a month after Johnson & Johnson Medical and unit Ethicon agreed to pay $300 million to settle two pelvic mesh class actions, ordering the firm to explain on the record what steps have been taken to finalise the settlement.
Johnson & Johnson Medical and unit Ethicon have agreed to pay $300 million to settle two class actions brought by Shine Lawyers on behalf of Australian women implanted with pelvic mesh and tape devices.
Settlement talks in a class action brought by Shine Lawyers against Astora Women’s Health on behalf of women injured by allegedly defective pelvic mesh products are “well advanced”, while mediation in two similar actions is ongoing, a court has heard.
A Sydney law firm that brought a class action against Boston Scientific over allegedly defective pelvic mesh products has agreed to stay its case while a class action by Shine Lawyers moves ahead.