Wouldn't a company like J&J have lawyers on retainer? If so, then their salary is already factored into their baseline annual costs.

> An annual filing with the SEC shows that J&J paid $7.4 billion in litigation expenses between 2020 and 2021, with the majority spent on legal costs related to talc claims.

https://njbiz.com/jj-offers-8-9b-to-settle-claims-talc-produ...

This is in addition to the settlement deal discussed here.

Isn't the biggest lawyer payout likely going to the plaintiffs' laywers?

They would likely engage outside counsel for something like this.