LOS ANGELES, Jan. 24, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- As another DePuy trial was supposed to begin in California State Court, Johnson & Johnson reported another major write down to the DePuy hip litigation for the company's fiscal Fourth-quarter.  The company announced in a recent filing that the company's Fourth-quarter included an $800mm charge "primarily related to an increase in the litigation accrual and program costs associated with the DePuy ASR Hip".  The current charge to Johnson & Johnson is in addition to the $2-$3Bil. in charges already taken by the company over the last 2 years.    

Legal-Bay, The Lawsuit Settlement Funding Company, has been a major plaintiff advocate firm with assisting clients with the needed lawsuit funding prior to their cases being settled.  And, if need be, assisting with referring clients to firms handling the DePuy litigation. 

It was Legal-Bay who accurately predicted in a June 2012 press release that not only would J&J take another financial charge against the DePuy ASR model, but that the number of cases file would reach 10K plaintiffs.  Both events have now happened as the DePuy litigation has over 10K suits filed in State and Federal Courts. 

As if things couldn't get worse for DePuy, a New York Times Report came out this week indicating that Johnson & Johnson was aware that the hip would eventually fail within 5 years of implant for nearly 40% of the patients.  The internal analysis was uncovered in court documents.  Open arguments are expected in the first DePuy trial this week in Los Angeles. 

This is now the third DePuy trial set to go trial, however neither of the other two trials got off the ground for various reasons.  And, many experts question if this case will proceed as the main plaintiff is rumored to be sick with cancer and may choose to settle like some of the previous cases.

Regardless, now that the ASR Model has been officially recalled by DePuy many experts believe the "life" of the litigation may be seeing the "light at the end of the tunnel".  Patty Kirby, Head of Client Relations at Legal-Bay commented, "Since DePuy is no longer selling the ASR hip, and they have taken large write downs, the sentiment in the market is that there isn't much more need to drag this out.  Regardless, we are still getting many lawsuit funding applications for both the ASR and Pinnacle model and are funding very aggressively and will continue to do so until DePuy settlement amounts are announced."

Legal-Bay advises DePuy victims with either model who do not have a law firm to contact one immediately as the time to file a claim is ticking each day; and after settlements are announced it could be much harder to get full value for your claim. 

Legal-Bay can assist any DePuy clients who have hired lawyers with up to $50K in DePuy lawsuit settlement funding prior to their case settling; and can also assist any victims with obtaining a DePuy lawyer for a free consultation to ascertain if they have a valid legal claim. 

Legal-Bay's representatives are available 24 hours a day on their toll free hotline: 877.571.0405 or individuals can apply directly online at: lawsuitssettlementfunding.com. 

SOURCE Legal-Bay LLC