Panel Refuses to Send Insurance, 'Domestic' Drywall Cases to MDL 2047

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation has rejected efforts to transfer two separate claims involving insurance coverage and damage caused by North American-manufactured drywall to the federal Chinese drywall MDL in New Orleans. In Re: Chinese-Manufactured Drywall Product Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2047 (JPML); Swidler, et al. v. Georgia-Pacific Gypsum, et al., No. 09-181 (M.D. Fla.); General Fidelity Ins. Co. v. Foster, et al., No. 09-80743 (S.D. Fla.).

Determining that the cases raise distinctly different factual and legal questions than those in the MDL, and involve claims against parties unique to those named in the Chinese cases, …