Melanie Cyganowski Quoted in Law360 on J&J Talc Unit’s Bankruptcy Plan
January 27, 2025
Law360 has quoted Otterbourg partner Melanie Cyganowski in the article “J&J Talc Unit’s $9B Ch. 11 Plan Draws Slew Of Objections.”
Cyganowski is part of the Otterbourg team representing the Coalition of Counsel for Justice for Talc Claimants, a group comprising law firms that represent claimants opposed to a proposal by J&J’s Red River Talc unit that seek to settle thousands of cancer claims through Chapter 11. The article reports that the coalition as well as the U.S. Trustee’s Office say the proposal should be rejected because the bankruptcy was filed in bad faith.
Cyganowski said the coalition “has long championed the need for Johnson & Johnson to take responsibility for the harm inflicted over so many years upon women who trusted J&J by regularly using their baby powder only to later become ill with ovarian cancer and other serious maladies.”
As a former chief Judge of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of New York, Cyganowski added that she is “particularly troubled by the strategic effort by J&J to take advantage of corporate and bankruptcy laws for the benefit of their shareholders rather than allowing talc claimants to have their day in court before a jury of their peers.”
Joining Cyganowski from Otterbourg in the representation of the coalition are fellow partners Adam Silverstein, Sunni Beville and David Castleman.