Johnson v. Johnson & Johnson
- Edward Chen
- 3:19-cv-06240
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 3
Johnson v. Johnson & Johnson was transferred to New Jersey for coordinated pretrial proceedings; Judge Chen is listed as its judge.
The parties to Johnson v. Johnson & Johnson were affected because their case was transferred from the Northern District of California to the District of New Jersey for coordinated or consolidated pretrial proceedings. The order also concerned the other related cases listed in the transfer schedule.
What happened
Johnson v. Johnson & Johnson was one of several cases involving Johnson & Johnson talcum-powder products included in a larger group of related cases.
The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation said the cases involved common factual questions. It transferred this case from the Northern District of California to the District of New Jersey for coordinated or consolidated pretrial proceedings.
The transfer order did not decide the parties’ underlying claims. The order was issued by the Judicial Panel; the case information identifies Judge Edward Chen as the district judge.
The detailed version
- Johnson v. Johnson & Johnson · No. 3:19-cv-06240
- Edward Chen
- Oct. 24, 2019
Background
The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation identified Johnson v. Johnson & Johnson as a related action concerning Johnson & Johnson talcum-powder products. The case was listed as a Northern District of California action in the schedule to Conditional Transfer Order CTO-175. The panel stated that the listed actions involved factual questions common to cases already transferred to the District of New Jersey in MDL No. 2738.
Decision
Under 28 U.S.C. § 1407, the panel ordered the case transferred to the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey for coordinated or consolidated pretrial proceedings. The cases were assigned, with that court’s consent, to Judge Freda L. Wolfson. The order stated that it would become effective when filed with the District of New Jersey clerk. It also stated that the seven-day stay was lifted because no objection was pending.
Effect
The order addressed the location and coordination of pretrial proceedings. It did not decide the merits of Johnson’s claims or Johnson & Johnson’s defenses. The supplied case information identifies Edward Chen as the judge for the Northern District of California case, while the transfer order itself was issued by the Judicial Panel and names Freda L. Wolfson as the judge assigned to the multidistrict proceedings.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.