Law firms lining up to attract drywall clients

MANATEE — “Have you noticed an odor that is similar to rotten eggs in your new home?” the ad on Craigslist begins.

It then asks if the home’s wiring or piping has had to be replaced frequently, or if air-conditioning systems have needed repeated repairs. The posting also inquires if homeowners and their visitors have experienced eye irritation, breathing difficulties, nose bleeds or headaches that disappear after leaving the home.

If the answer to any of those questions is yes, then “our lawyers are available to immediately assist you in your defective Chinese drywall lawsuit,” beckons the ad by Richard J. Serpe, a lawyer in Norfolk, Va.

He’s not alone. Like asbestos, Fen-Phen, tobacco and other allegedly defective or dangerous products in the past, Chinese drywall is attracting strong interest among law firms seeking to profit from the unfolding issue.

At least 30 law groups from Florida to California, many specializing in personal injury and product-liability cases, have either filed lawsuits or are recruiting plaintiffs to sue over allegedly defective Chinese-made drywall. Some firms are taking a different tack, seeking to represent defendants against potential drywall-related claims.

Why are law firms jumping into the drywall issue? For the potential prestige and financial payoff from handling a successful class-action product-liability case, lawyers say.

“This could be a $100 million case, and they could get 35 percent” of any settlement or judgment if they’re the lead attorney, said Darren Inverso of Norton, Hammersley, Lopez & Skokos, P.A. in Sarasota. His firm was initially contacted by a Lakewood Ranch homeowner and has since filed a class-action suit on her behalf.

“That’s the financial aspect as to why they’re looking for plaintiffs,” he said. “It’s also professional advancement. If you’re lead counsel on a class-action case that’s successful, that’s an advantage.”

Most of those firms seeking drywall cases are based or have offices in Florida, which has become the issue’s epicenter. But it also has drawn attention from lawyers in California, Pennsylvania and Ohio, areas where the presence of allegedly defective Chinese drywall hasn’t even been established.

Most of those firms have set up Web sites — such as www.thechinesedrywalllawyer.com — to recruit potential clients. And some firms have been more aggressive.

Michael Foreman of Foreman & Associates, a Sarasota construction consulting firm, estimates he’s been approached by at least 50 law firms since his company began testing Southwest Florida homes last year for tainted Chinese drywall.

“Most of the time I just tell them we’re not interested,” said Foreman, who has aligned himself with the “Chinese Drywall Legal Consortium,” a partnership of law firms in Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington, D.C.