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Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case is unique and depends on its own facts.
About Renee Melancon
Renee Melancon is an Attorney at Dean Omar Branham Shirley, LLP who has practiced toxic torts and asbestos-related cancer litigation for more than two decades. She earned her Bachelor of Science cum laude from the University of Florida in 1992, her law degree magna cum laude from the University of Arizona in 1997, where she was a member of the Arizona Law Review and inducted into the Order of the Coif, and a Master of Science also from the University of Arizona in 1997. Melancon has handled mass torts, multi-district litigation, and complex litigation across multiple jurisdictions. She is admitted in Louisiana and Texas, and before the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Fourth and Fifth Circuits and the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern, Middle, and Western Districts of Louisiana. Her notable achievements include a 2008 Louisiana Supreme Court victory that has been cited as one of the most influential rulings on asbestos law in that state.
Proven verdicts and settlements at Dean Omar Branham Shirley, LLP
These results are credited to Dean Omar Branham Shirley, LLP. A result appears under an attorney's own name only when a published source names them as counsel on the case.
On October 6, 2025, a Los Angeles County jury ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $966 million to the family of Mae K. Moore, a mother of three who died of mesothelioma in December 2021 at age 88 after decades of using the company's talc-based Baby Powder and Shower to Shower. The award comprised $16 million in compensatory damages and $950 million in punitive damages, reported at the time as the largest talc-mesothelioma verdict ever returned against Johnson & Johnson. On March 13, 2026, the trial judge, Ruth Ann Kwan, vacated the entire $950 million punitive award, finding the malice showing insufficient, while leaving the $16 million compensatory judgment intact. Both sides have said they will appeal. Dean Omar Branham Shirley tried the case for the Moore family, and this page documents it as part of the public record.
In July 2023, after a two-phase trial before Judge Cary Nishimoto in Los Angeles County Superior Court, a jury awarded roughly $107 million, $32 million compensatory and $75 million punitive, to the family of Joel Hernandezcueva, a janitor who died of pleural mesothelioma in 2014 in his mid-40s after asbestos exposure at the Park Place complex in Irvine. The jury found raw-asbestos supplier Union Carbide acted with malice and assigned it the largest share of fault. On December 12, 2023, Judge Nishimoto set the verdict aside in its entirety, granting judgment notwithstanding the verdict and a new trial on findings of juror misconduct, misconduct by plaintiffs' counsel, insufficient evidence, and excessive damages. Plaintiffs' counsel said they would appeal, and no published decision reinstating the verdict appears in the public record as of this writing. Dean Omar Branham Shirley tried the 2023 case, and this page documents it as part of the public record.
A Richland County jury awarded Michael Perry, a 53-year-old man diagnosed with mesothelioma, $63.4 million on August 15, 2024. The award was $32.6 million in compensatory damages plus $30 million in punitive damages against Johnson & Johnson and $760,000 against American International Industries. Perry alleged asbestos in Johnson's Baby Powder and other talc products caused his cancer. Johnson & Johnson said it would appeal.
A Portland jury awarded $34.2 million to Richard Long, a former Swan Island shipyard laborer diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma, after hearing that John Crane Inc. knew its asbestos gaskets and packing were dangerous decades before it warned anyone who worked with them.
Evan Plotkin of Somers, Connecticut, was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2021 and sued Johnson & Johnson, alleging decades of exposure to asbestos in its Baby Powder. A Bridgeport jury awarded $15 million in compensatory damages on October 15, 2024, and found the company's conduct warranted punitive damages. On October 1, 2025, the trial judge added $10 million in punitive damages, for a total of $25 million. Johnson & Johnson has appealed.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case is unique and depends on its own facts.
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Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case is unique and depends on its own facts.