the Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022 .
If passed in Congress and signed into law , this legislation would achieve several high-impact policy changes to the benefit of our deserving clients . The topics that would be favorably affected include 1 ) jurisdiction and venue , 2 ) general and specific causation , 3 ) trial by jury , 4 ) right to a speedy trial , 5 ) inclusion of late diagnosis cases , 6 ) Attorney ’ s Fees capped at 20-25 %, and 7 ) a new fee-splitting rule between counsel .
Jurisdiction and Venue : Currently , the exclusive jurisdiction of the Camp Lejeune litigation is in the four District courts of the Eastern District of North Carolina , where it will remain for coordinated or consolidated pretrial procedures and resolution over any action filed . The proposed bill provides that after completion of the pretrial procedures , the party filing the action may transfer the case for trial to any of the other 52 federal district courts located within the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit , which includes North Carolina , South Carolina , Virginia , West Virginia , and Maryland .
General and Specific Causation : Changes have been made in the language of the statute to ease or eliminate the burden of proving specific causation . By changing the burden of proof from “ showing that the relationship between exposure to the water at Camp Lejeune and the harm ” to “ the water at Camp Lejeune and the type of harm suffered ” changes the burden from specific causation to the much easier burden of general causation . The latent disease would also be changed to latent harm .
Trial by Jury : At the request of any party , the case shall be tried by the Court with a jury . This is the major goal of this new legislation because most trial lawyers believe that they will receive substantially larger awards from jurors than from Judges . Having done dozens of focus groups in this litigation and seen the very substantial jury awards , I wholeheartedly agree that our clients deserve their day in Court , being judged by a jury of their peers . I also believe that jury verdicts will bring the DOJ to the table for resolution much faster than judge-only verdicts .
Speedy Trial : The Court shall advance an action and expedite the disposition of such action to the greatest extent possible . With 52 additional District Courts to choose from for a jury trial , combined with this legislative order to grant a speedy trial , this is exactly what is needed to relieve much of the burden from our North Carolina Judges and move these cases expeditiously toward resolution .
Inclusion of Late Diagnosis Cases : The new statute will amend the Applicability Clause to recite : this section shall apply only to an action accruing before , on , or after the date of enactment of this Act . The current bill allows only actions that accrued before the date of enactment of this Act . Numerous cases are blocked by the present law due to the difficulty of diagnosis . For example , in Parkinson ’ s disease , it is often difficult to pinpoint a diagnosis because there are so many symptoms that develop over time before the Parkinson ’ s diagnosis is recognized . This will open the litigation to many of those clients .
Attorney ’ s Fees Capped : The total amount of attorney ’ s fees shall be the amount that is equal to 20 % of any settlement entered into before a civil action is commenced or 25 % of any judgment rendered or settlement entered into after a civil action is commenced .
On this issue , the record should reflect that the trial lawyers are entering into this substantial fee reduction of our own accord because it is in the best interest of our clients and not due to any pressure from those who would reduce our fees for political purposes . We passed this legislation bi-partisanly and will continue to operate on that basis while protecting our client ’ s best interests .
There are currently more than 400,000 private contracts between attorneys and their Camp Lejeune clients , most of which provide for larger fees , which are the standard in the industry for such complex litigation . Voluntarily abrogating those higher fees , which we will earn and richly deserve , is no simple matter or decision .
This fee provision will be the subject of substantial debate among those it affects . The question is whether it is wise to waive the millions of dollars in fees that this provision will extinguish to achieve trial by jury and the other advantages that will substantially benefit our clients . Both sides of the debate have valid arguments to support their position , and neither side is wrong .
Division of Fees : A division of a fee between attorneys who are not in the same firm may be made only if the division is in proportion to the services performed by each attorney .
This provision is self-explanatory , but I do not understand any necessity for its inclusion .
CONCLUSION :
As the leadership of this complex litigation continues to advance the Track 1 cases toward trial in the Summer of 2025 , we have to continue to look back and attempt to rectify unfortunate outcomes during the first two years of diligently prosecuting these cases . Since August 2022 , we have had to fight those who would reduce our fees for political purposes , but we have successfully held them off .
The big blow occurred when we lost the right to trial by jury . These two elements of caps on fees and the right to trial resulted in the new proposed legislation , the Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2024 , in which we voluntarily accept a cap on our fees so that our clients may get their right to a trial before a jury of their peers . We will all follow the progress of this legislative effort to do the right thing for our clients without regard to our costs .
The Trial Lawyer x 65