- WHAT IS CHINESE DRYWALL
- HOW TO CHECK FOR CHINESE DRYWALL
- HOW MANY HOUSES IN FLORIDA
HAVE CHINESE DRYWALL - DOES CHINESE DRYWALL HAVE A SMELL?
- CHINESE DRYWALL LAWSUIT HIGHLIGHTS
- THE HOURLY CHARGE TO THE FUND
WHAT IS CHINESE DRYWALL?
Defective Chinese Drywall was sold in the U.S. from 2001 through 2009. When someone mentions Chinese Drywall, they're usually referring to defective drywall. It has a chemical component that causes copper and other metal to corrode. Homes built with Chinese Drywall have an accelerated deterioration of air conditioning coils, refrigerators and other household appliance in addition to the electrical wiring throughout the house. One sign is wiring that develops a black coat on the non-plastic component. Chinese Drywall is known to cause health issues in humans.
HOW TO CHECK FOR CHINESE DRYWALL
It is not always easy to identify Chinese Drywall. One problem is that a lot of houses were built with a mix of Chinese and U.S. Drywall.
The cost to factually verify that you have a problem can be very high and can include sending samples out for testing.
You can do basic checking yourself by inspecting electrical wiring for the formation of a black coat. That could be an indication of Chinese Drywall. If your air conditioning coils deteriorate, your A/C guy might be able to let you know if it is possibly caused by
Chinese Drywall. The greatest number of homes built with defective drywall was between 2004 and 2006. Defective drywall has been used from 2001 through 2009.
HOW MANY HOUSES HAVE CHINESE DRYWALL IN FLORIDA
35,000 or more homes were built in full or in part using defective Chinese Drywall. That's roughly 35% of all homes built nationwide using Chinese Drywall between 2005 and 2009.
DOES CHINESE DRYWALL HAVE A SMELL?
Yes and No. Under certain conditions, Chinese Drywall can give off an odor that smells like rotten eggs or sulfer. It is more likely to occur when the weather is hot and humid.
THE BIG WINNERS ... DRUM ROLL PLEASE ... THE LAWYERS
The court awarded $248,000,000 to fund compensation to claimants and from which attorney fees are to be paid.
A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT WAS FILED 10 YEARS AGO AND FINISHED COURT PROCEEDINGS 01/2020
THE SETTLEMENT FUND
Taishan Settlement Agreement created a $248 million fund for the compensation of claimants whose damages were attributable to defective drywall manufactured by the Taishan entities.
ATTORNEY FEES
Out of the $248 Million, attorneys are to receive 19% which is $47,120,000 (or put another way, $4,712,000 earned per year). However, the verdict also reads that petitioning attorneys may seek an award of attorney fees up to an aggregate of 32% which if petitioned and approved, would equal $79,360,000.
THE ORDER:
The Taishan Settlement Agreement provides that petitioning attorneys may seek an award
of attorney fees “totaling in the aggregate up to 32% of the Settlement Funds,” which “shall be
paid from the Settlement Funds exclusively.
COURT DOCUMENT: Attorneys logged 109,000 hours
The time and labor required Class counsel and their staff have logged over 109,000 hours of work in the Taishan aspect
of this litigation between January 1, 2014 and August 31, 2019.
Keep in mind that we don't know the cost to the attorneys for handling this litigation. We assume this was high level litigation as was indicated on page 62 from the court document as follows:
The level of legal skills required to bring about the class settlements in this case was by no
means ordinary. Common benefit counsel faced formidable adversaries with significant resources
and had to make the case credible enough to convince a foreign manufacturer to resolve thousands
of claims at a substantial economic cost. However, the Court concludes that the benchmark
percentage adequately considers counsel’s skill and declines to increase the benchmark percentage
based on this factor.
THE HOURLY CHARGE TO THE FUND:
At 19%, the aggregate fees are $432.29 per hour. See page 61 for comments about travel time. See page 67 for breakdown between types of attorneys. A link to a PDF copy of the court document appears below - click here
Objections to the Settlement have been made but won't alter the outcome
Several Class Members object to the Settlement on the grounds that it simply does not
provide enough money to make them whole again or to allow them to fully remediate their homes.
Additionally, some Class Members object to the disparity between the Taishan Settlement and the
Knauf Settlement, which provided for complete remediation of affected properties in addition to
attorney fees.
The Court acknowledges that this Settlement is smaller than the Knauf Settlement and does
not provide 100% of the funds necessary to completely remediate each Affected Property.
However, the Court urges the parties to remember that settlements do not usually make claimants
completely whole.
PDF COPY (71 PAGES) CHINESE DRYWALL CASE #09-2047