MDL certified in New Orleans for Chinese Drywall Cases
The New Orleans Times-Picayune is reporting that the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation has instituted an MDL proceeding in New Orleans for all Chinese Drywall cases pending in federal court. The presiding judge will be Judge Eldon Fallon, who also presided over the Vioxx MDL. Chinese drywall cases involve homes built with drywall containing sulfur, which smells horrible.
In most cases defendants like having an MDL and plaintiffs hate it. While the litigation may be more efficient in an MDL from a global perspective, it usually slows down individual cases. I previously posted about a Chinese Drywall class action filed in Mississippi by Ocean Springs attorney Steve Mullins in this post. The Times-Picayune article did not mention any Mississippi cases, but all federal court cases will be transferred to the MDL.
