In the residential-construction industry, plaintiffs' attorneys are coming up with new creative ideas for class-action lawsuits, executives say—a shift from suits filed by individual owners to more inclusive product claims, such as the Chinese drywall class-action lawsuit settled last year for $80 million.
Karen Rice, vice president of construction claims at XL Group North America's Los Angeles office, is seeing such action in residential construction over claims on faulty pipe fittings and minor leakages. These water woes are particularly popular in plaintiff-friendly Southern California, she says.
“These are pinhole, minute leaks, causing some water damage,” says Rice. And it's not just one development, suing, or one builder. “It's all the builders in Southern California.”
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