Amid the welter of questions about tainted Chinese drywall, from the exact source of the product’s defect to how to address it, one thing is clear: the litigation the drywall has spawned is going to be complex, expensive and time-consuming.

Consumers have filed scores of suits against builders, suppliers, importers and manufacturers, some of whom have tried to pass the blame with lawsuits of their own. The cases run though state and federal courts, they cross international borders and they turn on questions of science that are not yet settled.

At a litigation conference held Thursday in New Orleans, attorneys from around the country discussed strategies for bringing or defending the drywall suits and the various challenges inherent in the litigation. For one, suits filed against the drywall manufacturers must be translated into one or more foreign languages.

Robert Brown III, a plaintiffs attorney based in Miami, said it can cost as much as $20,000 to hire companies that can translated the suits and serve them to defendants abroad, while hewing to an international protocol known as the Hague Conventions.

Brown said the suits have focused on a handful of foreign drywall manufacturers, including the German firm Knauf Gips and its three Chinese affiliates. Other manufacturers named in litigation include Beijing New Building Material PLC and Pingyi Zhongxing Paper-Faced Plasterboard.

The defective drywall is believed to have entered the United States mostly in 2006, when hurricane recovery in Louisiana and Florida combined with the national building boom to generate demand for the product that could not be met by domestic manufacturers alone.

Consumers in Florida, Louisiana and other states have complained that some brands of Chinese drywall emit chemical compounds that degrade air-conditioners and other household appliances and fill homes with the odor of rotten eggs. Some have reported nosebleeds and other health conditions they believe are linked to the drywall.

New Orleans this week became the focal point for some of the drywall litigation, after a panel of federal judges decided to move discovery and pre-trial hearings for Chinese drywall cases around the country to the federal discourt court in New Orleans. The panel’s order affects only federal suits, not suits filed in state courts.

Even in its infancy, the litigation is extraordinarily complex. In some instances, builders who were sued by homeowners have in turn sued the drywall manfacturers. Other builders, including WCI, have filed for bankruptcy. Lawyers will also have to duke out to what extent insurance policies and warranties might be used to recover damages.

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