Defective Chinese Drywall Lawsuits

Defective Chinese Drywall Multidistrict Litigation

In June 2009, the United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation issued an order centralizing In re: Chinese-Manufactured Drywall Products Liability Litigation, MDL 2047. This order consolidated all federal Chinese drywall lawsuits filed on behalf of homeowners throughout the United States in the Eastern District of Louisiana before U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon. Judge Fallon has been on the federal bench since 1995 and has experience handling large multidistrict cases, including a consolidated class action against the manufacturers of Vioxx.

As part of a Multidistrict Litigation, or MDL, the cases all remain individual lawsuits. If they do not settle during the pretrial proceedings, they will be sent back to the district where they were originally filed for trial. The MDL Panel decided to transfer all pending cases and future Chinese drywall lawsuits that are filed to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. This will help conserve resources and avoid duplicate discovery and inconsistent rulings. It will also help ease some of the problems caused by international defendants.

Attorney Scott Weinstein of Morgan & Morgan, PA is one of 13 lawyers appointed to the Plaintiffs' Steering Committee for the Chinese drywall multidistrict litigation. Weinstein and the other members of the Plaintiffs' Steering Committee (PSC) will be responsible for conducting and coordinating the discovery stage of this case, examining witnesses and introducing evidence at hearings, and handling various other tasks related to the pretrial proceedings. The PSC will also act as a spokesperson for all plaintiffs at pretrial proceedings and in response to any inquiries by the Court. Appointments expire one year from the date of Judge Fallon's order (July 27, 2009), but appointees to the PSC may apply to be reappointed when their term expires.