Case Update: Taishan Trial to Start February 19, 2010 February 7, 2010

Brief Update on the Chinese Drywall Trials

*Trial scheduled to start February 19, 2010*

Chinese-controlled “Taishan Gypsum” never responded to the lawsuit filed in the Eastern District of Louisiana last year.  Judge Eldon Fallon entered “default judgment” against the company, meaning that that there will not be future arguments regarding whether Taishan did something “wrong.”

What does this imply? – Judge Fallon and the Court must still assess damage amounts, but can move forward in the case since China didn’t show up or respond.   Currently, evidentiary hearings are in progress and the trial is nearing its scheduled beginning (2/19).

Want to brush up on your legal vocabulary or terminology knowledge?  Wikipedia provides a nice article containing definitions, comparisons, and examples of default judgments.

The trial starting Feb. 19, 2010, will be focused on Taishan Gypsum and will not bind other defendants in the case.  The trial, however, will be of great importance as it may create a standard for remediation.  Hopefully this will serve to save time in future trials against other manufacturers.

In product liability cases, defendants often include suppliers, distributors, and manufacturers among others.  In the context of Chinese goods, the products are manufactured by non-U.S. entities.  The rest of the supply chain can be addressed by the American legal system with relative ease compared to having hail into court a business controlled, and in most cases, owned by the Chinese government.  The above example of Taishan Gypsum’s failure to appear or respond to the lawsuit is indicative of this point.