[somenits]

This is the top-voted comment but as many of the other replies have pointed out, it's totally wrong outrage-bait. J&J, the parent company, is still ultimately liable for the full amount. The bankruptcy process just allows the courts to manage all of the claims together under the authority of one judge, instead of having different courts in every state issue incompatible damages awards in a race to judgment.

[tedivm]

They're only liable for the full amount because a judge refused to let them go through with the plan. Just because they failed to enact their plan doesn't mean the plan didn't exist.

https://www.reuters.com/legal/jjs-ltl-units-bankruptcy-dismi...

[somenits]

No, wrong. That's not what happened and it's not what the article says. The court didn't like the idea of them using the bankruptcy system to consolidate the cases.

[stillbourne]

Right? It's like being outraged that someone got charged for attempted murder but demand they did nothing wrong because the target is still alive.

[rcxdude]

The main issue with the action seems to be stalling for time in the courts while the parent company can continue to operate without much consequences (as far as I can tell all the companies listed in the texas-two-step wiki page are still operating and have not paid out).

Because the bankrupcy basically pauses all litigation (including against the parent company) it means even more delays on an already extremely lengthy process, but the restrictions of bankrupcy only apply to the spin-out, not the parent. So while in theory they may pay out eventually, the process can easily take more time and money than many of the claimants have (literally in the case of those who have cancer).

In general the immense amount of time most court systems take to actually resolve disputes like this is a big contributer to the lack of faith most people have in them, and the capacity to stall for time available to both parties but especially defendents is a big part of that problem.

[shkkmo]

> The bankruptcy process just allows the courts to manage all of the claims together under the authority of one judge, instead of having different courts in every state issue incompatible damages awards in a race to judgment

This "just" is sure doing a lot of work.

First off, if J&J is really on the hook for all the liabilities of the child company, then the child company is not bankrupt since it has plenty of money to pay unless J&J is also bankrupt. This makes it pretty clear that the bankruptcy is a sham legal maneuver.

Second, it is a bit rich that this legal maneuver is framed at "protecting claimants" when it blocks those claimants from pursuing cases that maximizes their damages. It seems pretty clear that J&J are not following this strategy to protect the victims an ensure fairness but to minimize their own costs and damages.

What this basically amounts to is subverting bankruptcy law to force claimants into something more akin to a class action without the consent of the claimants.

If it really is the case that total awarded damages exceed what J&J can pay, then J&J should itself file for bankruptcy.

[somenits]

>Second, it is a bit rich that this legal maneuver is framed at "protecting claimants" when it blocks those claimants from pursuing cases that maximizes their damages.

This is purposefully obtuse. If a few courts award 5 plaintiffs the entire pot of gold, then there's nothing left for all the other claimants. And of course it's in J&J's interest to consolidate the cases. It's also in the plaintiffs' interests, especially those who weren't first.

[wiz21c]

and then it may be easier to convince one judge than a dozen. Isn't it ?

[boringg]

Potentially but it's also a waste of our judicial system resources to have 12 identical cases going at the same time. However if you like paying for legal admin fees on both side its a great way to make sure lawyers get paid.

[tedivm]

There are other ways to accomplish this other than bankruptcy. Judges combine cases together all the time.

[somenits]

That's not true. Judges can't just take cases from different districts and different states, different court systems altogether, and consolidate them. Plaintiffs can choose to file a class action, but you can't force them into one. If all the cases are in federal court, you can kind of consolidate into an MDL (multi-district litigation), but that just consolidates certain pre-trial procedures. Unless they settle, the cases still get sent back out to the districts they came from for resolution by the original judges and separate juries.

Bankruptcy is one way around this.

[naasking]

There's something to be said for making this as painful and costly as possible for J&J.

[aaomidi]

So they can pay off a single judge?