China's construction sector has once again failed to shake its reputation for shoddy building. A week ago, Lotus Riverside, an unoccupied 13-story residential building in Shanghai, toppled over, killing one person. But this time, the Shanghai Bar Association has taken immediate action to help the victims.

Last Sunday, the Shanghai Bar Association assigned five lawyers -Wu Zhong Jun, Xu Wei, Lian An Jie, Xue Lirong and Xu Wei Wei -to provide free legal advice to the affected home owners. In addition, the association has also issued a list of 74 experienced real estate lawyers for victims to refer to.

The list of lawyers included Zhang Hua from Zhonglun, Li Yun from Zhongyin, Ye Zhen Wei from Zhenghan and Wei Ye from HHP.

The troubled developers have appointed leading construction and real estate firms Shanghai Jianwei and Shanghai Zhong Jian to represent them. Eight lawyers from the two firms are leading the case.