Personal Injury Law

Chinese drywall deal with Lowe?s is dropped

Product liability lawyers representing thousands of homeowners in a federal corrosive drywall case have dropped their opposition to a proposed settlement that Lowe?s Home Centers reached. The apparently turning point happened after a change in the settlement terms that increased the maximum payment from $4500 to $100,000. The lawyers criticized the original deal as paying too little to consumers and too much to the product liability lawsuits who negotiated it. And, when the change in the settlement terms increased, they quietly dropped their demand that it be blocked from th federal case. Instead, they got a judge to suspend all federal dry-wall related claims against the retailer while the settlement is in effect.

Thousands of homeowners in Florida and elsewhere have lodged complaints with states and federal agencies, primarily against drywall imported from China between 2001 and 2007. Thousands of product liability lawsuits have been filed over the product and have been consolidated into a single federal proceeding. The Chinese drywall has caused people significant personal injuries.

More information on the drywall settlement is available here.

See our related blog posts:
Drywall complaints reach 6300
Guidelines issued on problem drywall

Full post as published by Illinois Injury Lawyer Blog on November 14, 2010 (boomark / email).