Honolulu Personal Injury Lawyer - Defective & Dangerous Products

Recall of Chinese Drywall? Don't Hold Your Breath!

Wayne Parsons — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 11:32:22 GMT

The Fort Myers (FL) News-Press (10/20, Wozniak) reports, "A summit beginning Wednesday in Beijing between the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and its Chinese counterpart will press for companies in the Chinese drywall supply chain to take responsibility for their defective product. Commission Chairwoman Inez Tenenbaum will appeal to the Chinese companies to do 'what is fair and just,' commission spokesman Scott Wolfson said Monday." But "the mountain of obstacles to a recall appears insurmountable, say attorneys, academics and other experts in Chinese law and Chinese business culture. 'If China won't recall the defective products in its own market, what makes anybody think that they'll do it for products in the U.S?' asked Adam Minter, who blogs in Shanghai."

See my other articles on Chinese Drywall at my Injury Board Honolulu Blog.

In a separate article, the Fort Myers News-Press (10/20, Wozniak) reports on reasons why a Chinese drywall recall would prove difficult. Marshall Meyer, a professor at Wharton School and a global expert on Chinese business, said that "in this case, there are numerous distributors of a Chinese product that is difficult to trace because it is made by many companies and some of the product is not marked." CPSC spokesman Scott Wolfson said, "CPSC has sent more than 100 letters to U.S. importers, suppliers, manufacturers and home builders to obtain information about what they know, when did imported drywall come into this country and which communities was it used in."

Bill urges banks to assist Chinese drywall homeowners. Housing Wire (10/19, Prior) reported, "Congressman Glenn Nye (D-Va.) introduced a concurrent resolution in the House of Representatives calling for banks and mortgage servicers to assist homeowners struggling with toxic drywall, according to a release from his office." The legislation "urges mortgage servicers and banks to provide temporary forbearance on their mortgage payments to help families afford the costs of additional residency. 'Recognizing this issue in Congress and formally asking lenders to be a part of the solution will give families more leverage when working with banks or mortgage holders who may be unfamiliar with the seriousness of this problem,' Nye said."

Drywall inspections underway. WVUE-TV New Orleans (10/19, Parker) on its website reported, "Preparations are ramping up in preparation for the first trials in cases of toxic Chinese drywall. Judge Eldon Fallon has ordered a meticulous inspection of more than two dozen suspected homes across the country." All the findings "are being recorded for the judge, as they will be an important tool in court during trial. Plaintiffs' attorneys say they approximate a cost of $100,000 per home or a third of the cost of the home to begin to make homeowners whole." They believe the total cost "to settle the lawsuits would be staggering."

Florida soldier's home contaminated with Chinese drywall. WPTV-TV West Palm Beach, FL (10/19, Cashmere) on its website reported on Colin Green, a soldier from Port St. Lucie, FL, who "returned from overseas to his two year old home" only to find it contaminated with Chinese drywall. "Time is of the essence but time isn't exactly what Green has in abundance. In less than a week he heads back to serve his country at Fort Bragg, North Carolina."

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Wayne Parsons

CPSC Chair Tenenbaum Seeks China's Help In Paying Chinese Drywall Claims in U.S.

Wayne Parsons — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 10:57:14 GMT

The story of ruined homes, hopes and dreams in the U.S. Southeast has been raging in the news for almost a year: Drywall From China Causes Concern Over Sulfur Odor In Homes - by Wayne Parsons January 02, 2009. The first question that comes to mind for an attorney like me is how do you get a company in China to pay for damage that their product causes in the U.S. Defective Product Accountability for Foreign Manufacturers by Joe Saunders.

So how does the first woman who contacted me about Chinese Drywall in her home in Florida get the money to fix her problem? She was a single mother with a little girl and a new home tha reeked of sulfur smells to the point it made them both physically ill. The builder of the home was gone and probably bankrupt. To solve the problem, all of the drywall in the home would have to be removed and replaced. Think about it. That removing and replacing all of the walls in the house is a huge _ and expensive _ task. Well lawyers across the Southeast are filing lawsuits for aggrieved homeowners, but collecting any money may be an entirely different matter. It would be great if the U.S. Chamber of Commerce would stop its lobbying for insurance company behemoths like AIG and start helping Americans who are hurt get justice. But then all the U.S. Chamber of Commerce cares about is keeping the executive bonuses rolling in to the insurance industry fat cats. To heck with a single mother and her daughter in ruined home in Florida. She's nobody to them.

Lucky for all of us, President Obama has appointed some consumer advocates to agencies like the Consumer Product Safety Commission. After 16 years of Presidents Clinton and Bush ordering consumer and environmental agencies to back off regulating commerce and protecting the environment, there are signs of life in federal agencies that protect American consumers.

The Wall Street Journal (10/16, A3, Trottman) reports that in an interview prior to her trip next week to China for a consumer product safety summit, Consumer Product Safety Commission Chairman Inez Tenenbaum said she intends to ask China to assist in paying for damage caused in US homes by defective Chinese drywall. Said Tenenbaum, "I will find out if any discussions are going on in China about the costs, are they prepared to participate in providing funds, and what would it take for that to occur." She also intends to discuss a US regulatory standard for drywall composition.

Fallon denies motion to shift discovery to the Hague. The New Orleans Times-Picayune (10/15, Mowbray) reported, "U.S. District Court Judge Eldon Fallon denied a motion Thursday by the German company Knauf Gips to conduct discovery in the Chinese drywall litigation under the rules of international litigation in the Hague. Plaintiffs and U.S. companies view the move as a sign that Fallon, the judge presiding over the national consolidated litigation over Chinese drywall in New Orleans, will fight to hold foreign manufacturers of Chinese drywall accountable."

The Bradenton (FL) Herald (10/16, Marsteller) reports that Fallon "said he will not dismiss several suits against Knauf Gips KG," a German drywall manufacturer "that says it has nothing to do with Chinese drywall." Knauf Gips "argued the suits against it should be dismissed, saying U.S. courts lack jurisdiction because the company is based in Germany and has no business dealings in the United States." But Fallon said that "the company's request would jeopardize plans to hold the first 'bellwether' trial in January."

ABC World News (10/15, story 10, 2:10, Gibson) reported, "A federal court in New Orleans held a hearing today about a growing problem for tens of thousands of American families. They have filed lawsuits alleging that drywall, made in China, is defective, ruining their homes and their health, and now some are finding their homeowners insurance is being canceled because of it." Desperate homeowners "are trying everything. Many are suing their builders and drywall manufacturers. And some have tried making insurance claims to get compensated, but insurance companies say their contracts clearly state they're not responsible for construction defects."

CBS /AP (10/15) reported, "Thousands of homeowners nationwide who bought new houses constructed from [Chinese drywall] are finding their hopes dashed, their lives in limbo. And officials warn that cases...in which insurers drop policies or send notices of non renewal based on the presence of the Chinese drywall will become rampant as insurance companies process the hundreds of claims in the pipeline." Because mortgage companies "require homeowners to insure their properties, they are then at risk of foreclosure, yet no law prevents the cancellations."

Nelson blasts move. Sarasota (FL) Herald Tribune (10/16, Kessler) reports, "U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., lashed out at some of Florida's top insurance companies Thursday in response to several of them starting to drop coverage for homeowners who have tainted Chinese drywall." Nelson "fired off a number of letters to Florida companies," in one of which he "demanded that Bradley Meier, chief executive of Universal Property and Casualty Insurance Co. - one of the companies that has started dropping Chinese drywall victims - immediately provide 'a statement regarding your company's policy on claims and coverage relating to contaminated Chinese drywall.'"

Insurance reform is absolutely necessary in the U.S. as is now becoming apparant to all of us as the true facts of what is wrong with health care in America traces to the marble facades of the huge insurnace companies that dominate politics in Congress with their unlimited lobbying money.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Wayne Parsons

Why Did Kenneth Richard Owens' Parachute Fail To Open?

Wayne Parsons — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 05:27:55 GMT

In a tragic story, Kenneth Richard Owens is dead today after his parachute failed to open during a sky dive on the North Shore Monday. Owens, a 27-year-old Pearl Harbor-based Navy diver, was set to deploy today and so this was a last bit of fun before he left to defend the country. I cannot imagine there grief and shock family is going through. All of these soldiers are true hero's for defending the country and when a death occurs in a domestic situation like this it is shocking and doesn't seem fair to me. Last year I represented the family of Ethan Ranz, a war hero from Fertile, Minnesota after he was killed by a drunk driver, 5 days before his discharge and return to his parents home. I cannot imagine a sadder situation. In a small way have seen what the Owens family is going through and I know that there are no easy answers for them.

According to the Star Bulletin story, by Gary T. Kubota and Leila Fujimori Owens had made dozens of jumps since August 2008. He fell 13,000 feet without his parachute opening and was found in Mokuleia.

Owens is believed to be married and have a child. He is from West Chatham, Massachusetts and his parents are David and Mary Owens of West Chatham. Our condolences go out to the family.

The FAA is investigating the circumstances surrounding the accident. According to the Honolulu Star Bulletin investigation:

Owens was in a four-person formation when his main parachute failed to open due to what Hinshaw said was a packing error. "He had a high-speed malfunction, but he should have responded by opening up his reserve."

Hinshaw said Owens was sports-jumping with three others and was on his third jump of the day.

Owens landed in a pond on Dillingham Ranch, authorities said. Skydive Hawaii employees pulled Owens from the pond about five minutes later.

The other three divers landed safely at Dillingham Airfield and gave reports to police, Hinshaw said.

The call came into the Fire Department at 12:27 p.m., and police and fire officials got to the scene quickly and began resuscitation efforts. Owens wa then taken by ambulance to Wahiawa General Hospital.

Owens had 85 to 95 jumps according Skydive Hawaii:

"I remember I congratulated him when he graduated his student program," around September 2008, and he had started sky-diving in August 2008, he said.

"He was a together guy," Hinshaw said. "He seemed to have his wits about him and command over all his facilities. He's a nice, pleasant guy."

"Skydive Hawaii regrets the loss of his life and mourns the loss with his family and friends. ... He had so much potential," Hinshaw said.

Owens packed his own parachute but carried a reserve parachute that was packed by a professional rigger, Hinshaw said.

"It's rare that someone would have a total malfunction and not deploy their reserve parachute," he said.

Hinshaw understands why Owens used his last day before shipping out to go sky-diving. "The people that kind of get addicted to sky diving, you want the adrenaline, where sky diving does give you the adrenaline," he said. "It's something that's very enjoyable.

"He was a wonderful young man," he said. "He was just enjoying life."

The statistics show that injury or death in skydiving is rare. It is actually a pretty safe sport according to the book "Jump! Make Your First Skydive Fun and Easy" by Tom Buchanan:

USPA data for 2000 shows that there were 32 fatalities, and there were 34,217 members of the organization that year. Using these figures defines a fatality rate of 1 per 1,069 members. The fatality numbers will vary significantly from year to year, but a ten year average of data collected between 1991 and 2000 shows one skydiving death was recorded for every 903 members. USPA single year data also show that members made an estimated 2,244,165 jumps in the year 2000, presenting a fatality rate of one death for each 70,130 skydives that year.

The President of Skydive Hawaii, talking to KGMG television news speculated that the problem may be from Owens packing his parachute:

"He did have a good amount of knowledge of sky-diving, he packed his own chute, he was certified to jump by himself," said Frank Hinshaw of Skydive Hawaii.

The 27-year-old and three friends had gone up with Skydive Hawaii, a company Owens first jumped with last year. Hinshaw says Owens used his own chute and packed it himself. Everything was fine during the group's first two jumps earlier in the day, but the third jump ended in tragedy.

The FAA and police are investigating but Hinshaw speculates the chute may not have been packed properly.

"He made a problem in his packing procedure and probably didn't close main parachute properly," Hinshaw guessed.

A skydiving expert tells us a jumper is taught to aim for water if half of the parachute malfunctions, but the water didn't cushion Owens' fall; his main and reserve parachutes failed to deploy

Something doesn't add up for me. Owens was plenty experienced and, I think, unlikely to screw up packing his parachute. I wonder who owned the parachute and whether if may have been defective. First the FAA will investigate and they we can look more closely at the situation. Anyone with information is welcome to Comment.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Wayne Parsons

Chinese Drywall cases Hit the Courthouse In Large Numbers

Wayne Parsons — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 16:05:08 GMT

On the front page of its Business Day section, the New York Times (10/8, B1, Wayne) reports that hundreds of lawsuits from homeowners affected by Chinese drywall "are piling up in state and federal courts, and a consolidated class action is moving forward in Louisiana before Judge Eldon E. Fallon of Federal District Court, who will begin hearing cases in January." But "whether the Florida builders who brought the class-action lawsuit could ever collect on any future judgment remains unclear, because of the difficulty of gaining jurisdiction and enforcing rulings against foreign companies, especially in China." The Times notes that insurance companies "have become a popular target of lawsuits over their refusal to pay claims filed by homeowners and home builders, stating that their policies do not cover problems caused by pollutants."

The Bradenton (FL) Herald (10/8, Gagliano) reports, "In most cases, insurance companies are likely to reject claims over Chinese drywall and, in some circumstances, insurers will not renew policies." Filing a claim "over Chinese drywall damages may be the biggest risk factor for homeowners in terms of not being renewed. 'As long as no claims have happened, it shouldn't be a problem,' [Alden Weichel, president of Bradenton Insurance], said. 'If a claim has come out it could face nonrenewal.'"

Drywall From China Causes Concern Over Sulfur Odor In Homes

New legislation could help homeowners sue Chinese drywall manufacturers - by Wayne Parsons, August 12, 2009.

Louisiana state Senators to host two Chinese drywall town hall meetings. The New Orleans Times-Picayune (10/7, Warren) reported that Louisiana "State Sens. Julie Quinn and A.G. Crowe will host two town hall meetings on Chinese drywall in Chalmette and Slidell in the coming weeks."

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Wayne Parsons

Chinese Drywall Home Construction Defect Cases Move Into Litigation

Wayne Parsons — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 14:18:34 GMT

The Biloxi (MS) Sun Herald (10/3, Newsom) reported, "It's believed enough Chinese drywall to build 100,000 houses was shipped to the United States as the Coast was rebuilding from Hurricane Katrina, and South Mississippi attorneys and others expect thousands of lawsuits over those products to emerge in the coming months." James R. Reeves Jr., "a Biloxi attorney representing about 90 Mississippi homeowners in the lawsuits," said that "as many as 16 companies making the drywall are owned by the Chinese government," and that he "is unaware of a legal judgment ever being enforced against that government. Reeves said most Mississippians may be a little more fortunate, though, because it appears about 90 percent of the suspected drywall here was made in Chinese factories by KPT, a subsidiary of the German-based company Knauf International GmbH, which is not owned by a government and has assets."

Lawmakers seek to hold Chinese drywall manufacturers accountable. The New Orleans Times-Picayune (10/4, Mowbray) reported, "With estimates of $3 billion of damage in Louisiana and as many as 40,000 households nationwide facing financial ruin because of toxic homes they can't afford to fix, members of Congress, officials at the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and the parties to the national litigation in New Orleans are scrambling to find ways to hold about 20 foreign drywall manufacturers accountable. A bill in the U.S. Senate, the Foreign Manufacturers Legal Accountability Act of 2009, sponsored by Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., would require foreign companies doing business in the United States to agree to participate in litigation in U.S. courts." Another tool "that groups such as the Consumer Federation of America think could help limit defective or dangerous foreign products would be to require overseas manufacturers to post bonds when they sell products in the United States so consumers could collect against them in the event of problems."

A 2002 Florida home could be one of first built with Chinese drywall. The Sarasota (FL) Herald Tribune (10/4, Kessler) reported on Jim and Joan Norton of Manatee County, FL, who "could very well turn out to be among the first owners to be sold a home built using Chinese drywall in Southwest Florida, and possibly anywhere." The discovery of Chinese drywall in the Nortons' 2002 home in WCI's Waterlefe Golf & River Club "could stretch out the timeline of the drywall problem, previously considered to have started in 2004, to a full seven years." WCI "has publicly claimed it did not use imported drywall prior to 2004."

A Virginia congressman toured some affected homes. WAVY-TV Portsmouth, VA (10/4, Marks) on its website reported that on Saturday, Rep. Glenn Nye (D-VA) met with Virginia Beach residents affected by Chinese drywall, toured some of their homes, and said that "he has legislation proposed to speed up the process to get money for those affected."

My eraly articles on the Chinese drywall situation spurred a lot of comments.

Drywall From China Causes Concern Over Sulfur Odor In Homes

New legislation could help homeowners sue Chinese drywall manufacturers - by Wayne Parsons, August 12, 2009.

So far no Chinese Drywall has been identified in Hawaii homes.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Wayne Parsons

Floor mats Spur Toyota Recall of 3.8 Million Vehicles

Wayne Parsons — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 13:39:43 GMT

The AP (9/29, Thomas) reported, "Toyota Motor Corp. said Tuesday it will recall 3.8 million vehicles in the United States, the company's largest-ever U.S. recall, to address problems with a removable floor mat that could cause accelerators to get stuck and lead to a crash." Toyota said it was "still working with officials with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to find a remedy to fix the problem and said owners could be notified about the recall as early as next week." NHTSA said it "had received reports of 102 incidents in which the accelerator may have become stuck on the Toyota vehicles involved."

Forbes (9/29, Muller) reported, "The impending U.S. recall, the largest in Toyota's history, followed a horrific crash last month in San Diego in which a mat was suspected of snagging a gas pedal on a runaway Lexus, ending with a fiery crash that killed four family members. A minute before the crash, the driver called police to say the car had no brakes and the accelerator was stuck. The runaway car was doing more than 120 mph when it hit a sport-utility vehicle, launched off an embankment, rolled several times and burst into flames."

Bloomberg News (9/30, Keane, Ohnsman), the Wall Street Journal (9/30, B3, Mitchell), and USA Today (9/29) also covered the story.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Wayne Parsons

Number of implicated Chinese drywall manufacturers may be about to jump sharply.

Wayne Parsons — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 19:32:26 GMT

I wrote extensively about the Chinese Drywall defects in homes throughout the Southeastern United States when the story broke earlier this year:

Drywall From China Causes Concern Over Sulfur Odor In Homes

The Sarasota (FL) Herald Tribune (9/4, Kessler) reports, "The number of Chinese drywall manufacturers responsible for corrosion and potential health problems plaguing U.S. homeowners may be about to increase substantially." On Thursday, lawyers involved in the case "revealed that 36 separate variations of tainted drywall have been found -- a much higher number than previously disclosed." New players "revealed in photographs filed with the court show names such as Crescent City Gypsum Inc., International Materials Trading, ProWall and Dragon Brand Drywall." The disclosure came "as U.S. District Court Judge Eldon E. Fallon, who is overseeing the multidistrict litigation, warned one of the Chinese manufacturers already identified -- Taishan Gypsum Co. Ltd. -- that he would issue a default judgment if it did not respond in the case."

Don't confuse Chinese drywall with a great product called DRAGONBOARD®. I made the mistake of confusing the two earlier this year when I started investigating the Chinese drywall story: Chinese Drywall Is Not DRAGONBOARD®!

The story generated a lot of Comments and in the process some facts were not reported accurately. The main misunderstanding that I want to clarify here is that the product referred to as "Chinese Drywall" is not also called "DRAGONBOARD®" or other products identified as magnesium oxide board, MgO board or Mag board. There is no similarity between DRAGONBOARD® and the odorous Chinese drywall that has led to homeowner complaints throughout the Southeast states from Louisiana to Florida. I am including below the two Comments that mentioned DRAGONBOARD®.

The Comment by ManateeKnows is not correct that the offending "Chinese Drywall" is possibly DRAGONBOARD® of some magnesium-based product. The Comment by Bill Randy correctly points out that DRAGONBOARD® is a totally different product that doesn't smell, has never caused these types of problems and could not be the smelly "Chinese Drywall".

I have been in touch with Michael Di Raimondo, Director of Sales for DRAGONBOARD®-US in Edison, NJ. Mr. Di Raimondo kindly sent me samples of their product and invited me to smell it (no odor) and to put it in water (I did - it still doesn't smell and seems impervious to water). DRAGONBOARD® is waterproof and has been subjected to 36 months of freeze-thaw testing, it is UL fire rated and is ASTM D-5628 impact resistant. In addition it is silica/asbestos/formaldehyde free and thus a "green" product.. Mr. Di Raimondo describes DRAGONBOARD® as the "GREEN" construction panel of the 21st century. It looks like an excellent product.

Now a Judge plans Chinese drywall trials for January. The AP (9/3, Kunzelman) reported that U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon, who is "presiding over hundreds of lawsuits against Chinese drywall makers and installers, said Thursday that he plans to hold the first trial in January for the cases." Fallon "told attorneys that he expects them to pick six plaintiffs whose cases could be tried in early 2010, with the first trial starting in January. Kerry Miller, a lead lawyer for companies named as defendants in the suits, said defense attorneys may need more time to prepare for the first batch of bellwether trials. Russ Herman, a lead plaintiffs lawyer, said he supports Fallon's scheduling plan." Herman "estimated that plaintiffs lawyers represent between 12,000 and 20,000 clients with claims."

I have no connection with Russ Herman but know him to be one of the great attorneys for consumers in the country. Seeing him involved gives me the feeling that a good result will follow for the beleaguered homeowners. I remember a young woman from Florida who called after she read my early articles on the subject. She was a single parent with two young girls and she was sick about her new home being full of sulfur odors and she worried about her daughters health. Her builder had left the area and was out of business and she was struggling with her mortgage payments. Since I am in Honolulu and only do construction defects cases in Hawaii, I could only try to help her find an attorney in the Southeast. I hope she found Russ Herman. Then I know that she will be okay.

The serious question here is whether the Chinese manufacturer will come to the U.S. to pay for the injury and loss caused by this product? Our government allows these foreign manufacturers to make profits in the U.S. but does not require them to submit to our courts when their products cause injury.

Two New Reports Analyze Cost to the Country for Dangerous Products and the Problem With Foreign Manufacturers

I have a big problem with that because we are being bombarded by foreign products and many are inferior and unsafe.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Wayne Parsons

Whistleblower suit accuses Toyota of concealing evidence in hundreds of accidents.

Wayne Parsons — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 06:00:18 GMT

The Los Angeles Times (9/1, Hennigan) reports, "Toyota spent years concealing evidence from victims of hundreds of rollover accidents that resulted in death and injury, a former top lawyer for the automaker says." Dimitrios P. Biller of Pacific Palisades, "a former managing counsel for Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc., said in the suit that the company repeatedly forced him to illegally withhold information from opposing lawyers and made him resign in September 2007." In the July 24 lawsuit filed in federal court in Los Angeles, "Biller accuses the world's largest automaker of destroying data in more than 300 accidents that proved vehicle roofs were substandard." Clarence Ditlow, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, "said that if what Biller says is true, the financial repercussions for Toyota could be massive."

Bloomberg News (9/1, Davidson) reports, "Toyota Motor Corp. may face demands that rollover-crash cases it won or settled be reopened, in light of accusations by a former company lawyer that the company hid records sought by plaintiffs." Mikal Watts, a lawyer in Corpus Christi, TX, said, "The petition alleges conduct by Toyota that would cause every case ever resolved by Toyota in the past 10 years to be re-opened," adding, "We intend to ask the courts to re-open these lawsuits."

In a blog at the New York Times (8/31), Christopher Jensen wrote, "In their own court filings, Toyota officials responded that Mr. Biller was a disgruntled employee with a vendetta against the automaker and a history of breaking his word, including a nondisclosure promise made when he left the company. Mr. Biller responded that he was not bound by that promise because the information he was disclosing involved crimes." Biller "was suing for wrongful termination, emotional distress that he said led to psychiatric problems and civil violations of the federal Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organization Act."

Class-action filed. CBS News (8/31, Levin) on its website reported, "Toyota has been charged in a class action suit with illegally hiding evidence from plaintiffs in cases stemming from highway deaths and injuries across the U.S." The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, "seeks to represent all plaintiffs who lost or settled cases in which Toyota allegedly concealed evidence. It was filed late Friday by lawyers for Bella Basco and Crystal Ennis, both of whom suffered catastrophic injuries in rollover wrecks when vehicle roofs collapsed."

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Wayne Parsons

Chrysler Bankruptcy Update: Car Giant To Accept More Product Liability Claims.

Wayne Parsons — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 18:47:49 GMT

The AP (8/27) reported, "Chrysler Group LLC said Thursday it will accept product liability claims in a broader number of cases than originally planned in its reorganization under bankruptcy protection. The automaker said it will now consider product-related lawsuits from consumers involved in accidents that occurred after Chrysler emerged from bankruptcy protection in June that involve vehicles manufactured by the old company." Joanne Doroshow, "executive director of the Center for Justice and Democracy, said Chrysler had 'responded to pressure from injured victims and consumer groups and we commend them for taking this important step to protect public safety.'"

The Detroit News (8/27, Shepardson) reported that Chrysler senior vice president for external affairs and public policy John Bozzella said, "While Chrysler Group still faces challenges, we are confident today that the future viability of the company will not be threatened if we assume these obligations." Chrysler "noted its approach is now consistent with that taken by General Motors Co. as part of its bankruptcy process, Chrysler said. But Chrysler will not accept liability for lawsuits filed for incidents filed before June 10."

Bloomberg News (8/27, Rosenblatt) reported that as part of the original bankruptcy agreement, Chrysler had "agreed to assume liability only for cars sold by the newly formed company."

The Wall Street Journal (8/27, Linebaugh) and Reuters (8/27, Bailey) also covered the story.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Wayne Parsons

New legislation could help homeowners sue Chinese drywall manufacturers.

Wayne Parsons — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 17:02:33 GMT

We have a problem in the U.S. with holding foreign manufacturers responsible for harm their defective products cause here in the States. One example was the salmonella problem from Mexican tomatoes and currently the focus is on drywall manufactured in China. I have written on this problem before:

Drywall From China Causes Concern Over Sulfur Odor In Homes

Melamine Contamination, Food Poisoning and Foreign Products

Food Poisoning Tips For Consumers in Hawaii

House passes food safety bill

Now Congress is doing something about the foreign drywall. The Miami Herald (8/12, Clark) reports, "New legislation could make it easier for homeowners with defective Chinese drywall to take the manufacturer to court. The Foreign Manufacturers Legal Accountability Act of 2009, introduced by Rhode Island Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, and co-sponsored by Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., attempts to make it easier to bring foreign companies before an American court." The bill "would require foreign manufacturers to retain a business representative in at least one state where it does significant business and who could be served with a lawsuit."

CSPC to visit China for drywall investigation. The Palm Beach (FL) Post (8/11, Ross) reported, "The Consumer Product Safety Commission - which is spearheading the investigation into the odorous drywall linked to corroding metal and blamed by some homeowners for health problems - sent an update to Congress today stating that it has received permission from Chinese officials to visit the country. The visit is planned to begin on Aug. 17; the CPSC said it has asked to visit 'several sites that we believe to be of interest.'" CPSC staff "has confirmed that 6,211,200 sheets of Chinese drywall were imported into the U.S."

In a blog at the Wall Street Journal (8/11), M.P. McQueen wrote, "In the update, officials also said the agency will 'in the coming days' release results of testing for radioactive phosphogypsum by the Florida state health department and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency."

Judge to expedite 'bellwether' trials. The Sarasota (FL) Herald Tribune (8/11, Kessler) reported, "Meanwhile, Judge Eldon E. Fallon, who plans to begin 'bellwether' trials in January, told both sides during a status conference in New Orleans on Tuesday that he expected discovery to begin in a few weeks. The process will be sped along by the use of 'profile forms' rather than traditional interrogatories that can get mired in procedural delays." Fallon "already has suggested that the foreign defendants consider waiving" the plaintiffs' requirements for serving suits, commenting, "The train is leaving, folks, and you're not going to be able to catch up to it. The MDL is going to get it eventually, you might as well shortcut it." Attorneys "indicated that there may be movement on that issue."

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Wayne Parsons