Beasley Allen appeal of DQ from N.J. talc cases rejected

The New Jersey Supreme Court won’t overturn the disqualification of a law firm that spent years and money on thousands of talcum powder lawsuits, only to find itself on the sidelines.

Beasley Allen was found to have strategized too closely with a former lawyer for Johnson & Johnson on a plan to craft a mass settlement of claims alleging products like Baby Powder contained asbestos. The state Appellate Division earlier this year booted the firm off 3,600 cases in state court, and on April 10 the Supreme Court denied Beasley Allen’s request to appeal.

It’s the latest blow to the firm, which has also been removed from its lead counsel position in a massive consolidation of cases in New Jersey federal court. Though it said in court documents it is “likely to prevail in its forthcoming appeal” to the Third Circuit, lawyers at other firms have begun filing applications to take over as lead counsel.

That federal multidistrict litigation houses more than 60,000 lawsuits alleging asbestos from cosmetic t...