Today, the much anticipated fairness hearing occurred in Judge Fallon's courtroom in New Orleans. Judge Fallon is the presiding judge over the Chinese drywall MDL. A call-in line was not set up, so attorneys outside of the courtroom could not monitor the hearing. Judge Fallon was urged to accept the proposed settlement agreements between the Plaintiffs and the Defendants.
What complicates matters is that the different agreements ultimately affect different categories of Plaintiffs. Also, the deadlines for the Defendants to opt-out of the agreements have been extended past today's date. Below are two links to stories covering the hearing. Of note is the figure that 300 or so Plaintiffs have opted out of the proposed settlements.
http://www.chron.com/news/article/Judge-urged-to-approve-Chinese-drywall-settlements-4033488.php
http://www.myfoxal.com/story/20086215/judge-urged-to-approve-chinese-drywall-settlements
