Former troops and their family members who became sick from exposure to toxic water decades ago at Camp Lejeune, N.C., cannot be charged by their attorneys more than 25% of the money paid to them as compensation by the government, federal officials have ruled. (U.S. Marine Corps)
Former troops and their family members who became sick from exposure to toxic water decades ago at Camp Lejeune, N.C., cannot be charged by their attorneys more than 25% of the money paid to them as compensation by the government, federal officials have ruled.
The Justice Department made the decision official in an Oct. 27 court filing, adopting a request from Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, who said he had worked for more than a year with the American Legion to cap attorney fees in these cases involving the Marine Corps base. Sullivan, who spoke Wednesday on Capitol Hill, accused some attorneys involved in these cases of signing their clients to contracts that would award the lawyers more than 65% of the money that victims eventually receive.
“I’ve seen a lot of issues that call out for justice, but I’ve never seen one that calls out for justice so much like this. This is a zero-sum game — the money’s either going to go to sick Marines and their families who deserve it or to trial lawyers,” said Sullivan, who is an attorney, a colonel in the Marine Corps Reserve and a member of the American Legion in Alaska. “We do not want sick Marines and their families to be scammed.”
The Justice Department decision, shared by Sullivan’s office on Wednesday, caps attorney fees at 20% for administrative claims and at 25% for suits filed in federal court. Sullivan said Wednesday that Attorney General Merrick Garland had assured him that the federal government would levy criminal or civil penalties under the Federal Tort Claims Act on lawyers who charge their clients fees beyond those caps.
“This is fairness for our veterans going into Veterans Day,” Sullivan said ahead of the federal holiday Saturday honoring those who have served in the military. “This is really important. If you’re a veteran of Camp Lejeune … who signed an agreement with a law firm that says that law firm is going to get 70% of your money — wrong answer. That is illegal.”
Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, attends a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on July 13, 2023. (Carlos Bongioanni/Stars and Stripes)
The American Legion has lobbied lawmakers to cap law firm fees since the Camp Lejeune Justice Act was passed in 2022, which allowed for those sickened by toxic water at the Marine base between 1953 and 1987 to sue for damages. American Legion National Commander Daniel Seehafer, who spoke Wednesday alongside Sullivan, said he was angered by wall-to-wall radio and television advertisements from law firms seeking Camp Lejeune clients.
Seehafer said law firms have “spent billions [of dollars] … on predatory marketing campaigns targeting sick Marines and their families.” He called on Congress to encode those fee caps in law, which Sullivan and other Republicans have unsuccessfully attempted previously.
More than 100,000 Marine veterans and their family members who served at Camp Lejeune between the 1950s and 1980s have filed claims, Navy officials said. So far, no one has been paid a settlement nor gone to trial in the case. Victims have until Aug. 10, 2024, to submit a claim.
Navy officials said the processes to vet claims have been slow moving, but they have promised staffing has been increased and they are making progress on the backlog.
In September, the Navy and Justice Department announced the government would offer some victims a preset settlement option, which would pay between $100,000 to $550,000 to those who have developed certain diseases and spent at least 30 days at Camp Lejeune between Aug. 1, 1953, and Dec. 21, 1987.
Known as the elective option, those settlements are meant to provide some claimants a “quick and early resolution” to their cases, the Justice Department said in September.
Government officials said they had not estimated how many victims would take the elective option. They also said they expect thousands of additional individuals to file claims.
It remains unclear how much money the federal government will pay out to victims of toxic water at Camp Lejeune. The government has projected such payouts could exceed $21 billion, Bloomberg reported last month.
Up to 1 million service members and civilians were likely exposed to toxic water at the base, Navy officials have said. Contaminants in the drinking water — primarily dry-cleaning chemicals that leaked into wells from an off-post business — have been linked to neurological disorders, including Parkinson’s, cancers, reproductive issues and other health defects.
