Last September, arguing before the Third Circuit, Jeffrey Lamken of MoloLamken pointed out something peculiar about the bankruptcy filing by Johnson & Johnson affiliate LTL management, which put the brakes on nearly 40,000 lawsuits involving talc products.

“This is probably the first planned major bankruptcy—at least the first I’ve ever heard of—where if you’re looking for indicia of financial distress, you don’t find any business executive, you don’t find any documents at J&J … before the bankruptcy saying ‘Wow, we’re financially distressed. We’re heading for insolvency,’” Lamken said. “The first time you see that is in the bankruptcy. And where’s it coming from? The lawyers.”