NEW ORLEANS (AP) — More than a year after suing the Cabinet agency that oversees China's biggest state-owned companies, lawyers for people who say their homes were ruined by Chinese drywall are still trying to get the lawsuit served.

And arguments are scheduled in December about whether other defendants are shielded as Chinese government agencies.

All were sued as parents of Taishan Gypsum Co., which has paid $3.2 million in damages and interest to seven homeowners.

U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon is considering damages for as many as 4,000 homeowners who say sulfur emissions from drywall made by Taishan ruined their homes and belongings.

They could be seen as knocking at "China's Great Legal Firewall." That's the title of a recent report about legal dealings with Chinese businesses in the U.S. financial securities sector.

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