Keller Postman has settled more lawsuits for Camp Lejeune victims than any other firm. Over one million Marines, military families, and civilians were exposed to life-threatening chemicals in the water at Camp Lejeune. Keller Postman was appointed by the Court to lead negotiations with the government on behalf of all Plaintiffs poisoned by the water. If you or a family member spent at least 30 days at Camp Lejeune between 1953 and 1987 and developed cancer or a serious illness from the water, we can help you get compensation.
Keller Postman has settled more Camp Lejeune lawsuits than any other firm, and we’re settling more cases daily. If you are a current client and your case meets the requirements below, please contact us immediately at service@kellerpostman.com. We may be able to get you settlement compensation too.
Current Settlement Requirements
If your case doesn’t meet these requirements, don’t worry. We’re pushing the government to expand its current settlement options and reach a potential global resolution on behalf of all claimants. We’ll let you know if your case becomes eligible for settlement.
For over 30 years, the water at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune was contaminated with toxic chemicals known to cause cancer and other chronic conditions. Hundreds of thousands of servicemembers and civilians drank, bathed in, cooked with, and swam in that water. The government knew about the contamination by the early 1980s but failed to warn the victims that they were at increased risk for serious health problems.
On August 10, 2022, the Camp Lejeune Justice Act became law. Within minutes of the bill’s signing, Keller Postman attorneys began filing actions against the government to obtain compensation for victims.
“The veterans and military families poisoned by the water at Camp Lejeune have waited long enough for their day in court. My team has been preparing for this day for months; we don’t want to waste a single minute,” said Keller Postman Partner Zina Bash, who leads the litigation along with Managing Partner Warren Postman.
The Camp Lejeune Justice Act gives Marines, their families, and other civilians the first real opportunity to sue the government since the water poisoning began at Camp Lejeune almost 70 years ago.
The Justice Act covers individuals who were “exposed (including in utero exposure) for not less than 30 days” between August 1, 1953 and December 31, 1987 to water at Camp Lejeune supplied by the government. If exposure to the water injured you or a family member , you may qualify for a claim. Please see the FAQs below to learn more.
Meet the attorneys leading the Camp Lejeune litigation.
Victims of Camp Lejeune have been waiting decades for their day in court. At Keller Postman, we are helping lead the litigation and are ready to pursue your claim quickly and effectively.
Managing Partner Warren Postman and Partner Zina Bash lead the case. They have three Harvard degrees between them and both clerked on the U.S. Supreme Court. Learn about our award-winning team here.
We have secured meaningful recoveries for more than 500,000 clients in the last three years alone. We take on the most powerful defendants in the world, including the federal government, and put power on your side.
We were directly involved in the effort to enact the Camp Lejeune Justice Act. Our lawyers helped to educate key decisionmakers on Capitol Hill about the importance of the Act and what exactly it would mean for veterans, their families, and others poisoned by the water.
These claims will be filed against the U.S. government. Our lawyers have experience working with the Department of Justice and other federal agencies, and we know those agencies will take Keller Postman attorneys seriously.
We make things easy for you. We’ll gather the evidence you need with the lowest burden on you. And with a large client base, we will have efficiencies to reduce costs and the leverage to pursue the best outcomes we can for our clients.
The Court overseeing the Camp Lejeune litigation appointed Keller Postman Partner Zina Bash to co-lead the litigation and serve as Plaintiffs' Government Liaison. Keller Postman is positioned to help deliver justice to our clients.
President Biden signed the Camp Lejeune Justice Act into law on August 10, 2022. For the first time since the water poisoning began at Camp Lejeune, victims may now sue the government for injuries they suffered as a result of their exposure to the base’s contaminated water.
If you were exposed to the water at Camp Lejeune for at least 30 days between 1953 and 1987—whether you lived at Camp Lejeune, worked there, or otherwise spent time there—the bill gives you the right to sue the government for harm caused by the water.
The Camp Lejeune Justice Act does not list specific diseases that are covered. Anybody can sue if they were exposed to the toxic water for at 30 days between 1953 and 1987. However, certain diseases are more closely associated with exposure to the toxic water at Camp Lejeune.
Here is a list of some of the medical conditions and diseases that the government itself has linked to Camp Lejeune toxic water exposure. Please know that this is not an exhaustive list. If you were exposed and suffer from a different disease, you may still be entitled to compensation:
Again, even if a condition or disease is not listed above, it may still have been caused by the toxic water at Camp Lejeune and, if so, we will help investigate.
No. If you are already receiving VA benefits or other compensation for injuries caused by the poisoned water at Camp Lejeune, the bill would still give you the right to sue—and you would not lose your benefits.
We will pursue your claim on a contingency fee basis, meaning that there is no upfront payment, fees, or expenses until we win your case and recover money on your behalf.
Click here to learn more about the Camp Lejeune Justice Act, including who the Act applies to and what the Act allows.
Click here to learn more about the water-poisoning at Camp Lejeune and the history of contamination.
To directly access orders of the court and view announcements from the Plaintiffs’ Leadership Group, visit camplejeunecourtinfo.com
Current Status: Keller Postman has settled more lawsuits for Camp Lejeune victims than any other firm. The Court in North Carolina has announced a process to select 25 plaintiffs for trials that could begin in 2025. These trials will be for a small group of test cases alleging one or more of: bladder cancer, kidney cancer, Parkinson's disease, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and leukemia. We will provide updates about these cases as they move through discovery over the coming months.
March 25, 2025: The first hearing presided over by all four judges in the Lejeune litigation has concluded. During the session, the judges urged the parties to continue making progress toward negotiating a global settlement, and the parties previewed their arguments regarding which chemicals were present in the groundwater, when they were there, and in what quantities. The outcome of these arguments will have a significant impact on the 25 test trials scheduled for 2025 and 2026. Plaintiffs argued that the Court should rely on a detailed scientific model created by the federal government to estimate which chemicals were in the water and when, which would help determine the exposure levels for Lejeune claimants. However, the government pointed out various "weaknesses" in its own model, arguing that it is unreliable for estimating individual exposure to toxic chemicals. The parties are expected to submit their arguments in writing soon. Additional scientific issues are being argued in parallel, including whether the chemicals in the water caused the diseases claimed by the 25 plaintiffs.
March 21, 2025: The court-appointed Settlement Masters, Thomas J. Perrelli and Christopher G. Oprison, filed an update on their efforts to move the parties towards a global settlement agreement. The Settlement Masters were appointed by the four judges of the Eastern District of North Carolina in July 2024, and they have been working closely with the Plaintiffs' Leadership Group (PLG) and the government since then.
Their status update, which you can read here, presents a recap of the meetings they've convened and also lays out a set of projects they hope will lead to a settlement agreement by the end of 2025. The PLG and the government have tentatively agreed to work on these projects, though they may still change.
Gathering information. Under the Settlement Masters' plan, the PLG and the government would administer a questionnaire to a sample of 2,500 claimants. The questionnaire would ask for more details about the claimants' exposure to contaminated water and their resulting injuries. Questionnaires like this are often used in large lawsuits to help the parties better understand the claimant population so they can come to the table with a more complete view of what they're negotiating over.
Mediating key cases. Right now, 25 “test” cases are scheduled to go to trial in 2025 and early 2026. But the Settlement Masters have asked both sides to try to resolve (or mediate) some or all of those cases first — meaning they’ll negotiate, with the help of a neutral third party, to see if they can reach a settlement without going to trial. The results of those negotiations could help guide the structure of a broader settlement for everyone.
Developing a settlement matrix. If enough progress is made, the next step would be to negotiate a settlement matrix — a points-based system that would help the Settlement Masters calculate settlement offers based on things like injuries, length of exposure, and other key factors. These kinds of “grids” or “matrices” are common in mass litigations because they allow settlement offers to be rolled out on a large scale while still taking each claimant’s unique situation into account.
Even if the parties ultimately agree on a matrix, Lejeune residents and their families would still need time to prepare and submit their claims. After that, the Settlement Masters would need to review those claims, calculate settlement offers, and begin distributing compensation to those who qualify. In other words: even once a settlement is negotiated, it will still take time to get compensation out to claimants.
In the meantime, Keller Postman encourages all clients to submit any relevant records — including medical records, military records, or proof of residence — as soon as possible, if you haven’t already. The sooner we have the documents we need to prove your claim, the better positioned we’ll be to submit it quickly if and when a settlement becomes available.
You can read the Settlement Masters full status report here.
March 3, 2025: An upcoming hearing on March 25 will mark a pivotal moment in the Camp Lejeune litigation. All four judges of the Eastern District of North Carolina will come together for the first time to hear plaintiffs' and the government's views on how the Court should decide one of the most fundamental issues in this litigation: to what extent was the water on Camp Lejeune contaminated with dangerous chemicals?
To this point, plaintiffs' and the government have exchanged reports prepared by scientific experts laying out each side's opinion on which chemicals were in the water, at what times, and in what quantities. The next step will be to present legal arguments based on those dueling scientific reports. This hearing will help the court decide how to evaluate those arguments.
Ahead of the hearing, both sides submitted a joint notice outlining areas of agreement and disagreement. The parties agreed on some basic principles, like the types of evidence that the court should consider:
In Phase 1, the Court will be presented with evidence pertaining to the concentration levels for the chemicals in drinking (finished) water at Camp Lejeune from 1953 to 1987. To help the Court “understand the chemicals in the water at Camp Lejeune during the operative period,” D.E. 247 at 2, the Parties may present evidence from experts in fields such as history, engineering, hydrology, environmental sciences and mathematical modeling pertinent to the fate and transport of contaminants in groundwater and in drinking (finished) water for family housing areas and other facilities at Camp Lejeune from 1953 to 1987. The evidence will include the contamination sources, the fate and transport of the contaminants within the groundwater underlying Camp Lejeune, the supply of water through wells to the various treatment plants at Camp Lejeune, and the distribution of the water from the treatment plants to relevant areas of Camp Lejeune during this time frame.
However, the parties also disagree on a number of points. For example, the government believes that the court should try to resolve all the legal issues relating to water contamination at one time and with the aid of an in-person hearing. Plaintiffs disagree, arguing that written motions are sufficient and that complex edge cases should be reviewed individually by the assigned judge. These procedural points can sound dry but are often important to the progress of the case.
What’s decided after this hearing will shape the next phase of the litigation. We’ll keep you updated as the case moves forward.
February 10, 2025: The debate over “general causation” (whether and to what extent the chemicals in Camp Lejeune’s water can cause Track 1 diseases in humans) continues. On Friday, the government submitted expert reports to the Court, and while it has already awarded compensation to many former Lejeune residents suffering from these diseases, we anticipate it will attempt to downplay the scientific connection. Plaintiffs must submit their rebuttal reports by Friday, March 14.
The final scientific question the parties must address before trial is “specific causation,” which examines whether the chemicals in the water (rather than other factors like genetics, smoking, or unrelated chemical exposures) caused the Track 1 injuries in the 25 test plaintiffs. Plaintiffs submitted their expert reports on specific causation last Friday, and the government’s response is due on Monday, March 10. We expect the government to argue that other factors, not the contaminated water, were the true cause of the plaintiffs’ illnesses.
While these expert reports remain confidential, the legal arguments surrounding them will emerge in publicly filed motions later this year.
December 9, 2024: Today the EPA announced a historic nationwide ban on trichloroethylene (TCE) and perchloroethylene (PCE, or perc). These widespread contaminants—which were also found in the water at Camp Lejeune—have been the subject of public health advocacy campaigns since the 1980s, with links to cancer, neurological disorders, reproductive disorders, and other serious health conditions.
In addition to its overwhelming public health benefits, we also consider the ban a win for the Lejeune litigation. The ban’s strict, swift requirements reflect just how harmful the government now considers these chemicals. Companies will need to eliminate TCE from all products within one year, and PCE from all consumer products in the next three years. The chemicals can still be used in certain commercial and industrial applications, but many industries (including dry-cleaning) will be required to phase them out quickly, with much stricter worker protections along the way.
We've also reached another milestone in the litigation. As you may recall, proving the science behind Lejeune claims involves three steps:
We already submitted our scientific reports supporting water contamination at Lejeune. Now, the Department of Justice will share its expert reports with Plaintiffs for the first time. We’re eager to learn how much the government may dispute the well-known contamination on base, and on what scientific basis.
Meanwhile, Plaintiffs have reached step two in the three-step scientific briefing process. We will submit scientific expert reports supporting “general causation” in the Track 1 diseases (non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, leukemia, Parkinson's, kidney cancer, and bladder cancer) this afternoon.
If the government responds by denying the harmful effects of these contaminants, we're prepared to challenge it. And now we'll have the added argument that one of the federal government's own agencies has decided that they're so dangerous that the only way to protect the public is to ban them entirely.
November 12, 2024: The government recently relaxed some of its Elective Option (EO) Settlement Program guidance, and we're hopeful it will lead to more settlement offers to participating claimants. Only a few hundred offers have been issued through this program since it went live over a year ago, despite hopes that it would help resolve large numbers of Lejeune claims. One critical reason the EO program has moved so slowly: length of time on base is required to calculate EO offer amounts, and many claimants have struggled to prove how much time they spent at Lejeune. Now claimants that say they were at Lejeune for less than a year can submit simplified documentation. It still isn't clear exactly which documents will satisfy the government, but we're hopeful that DD214s will be enough. If you or a loved one were at Camp Lejeune between 30-365 days, were diagnosed with one of the diseases listed at the top of this page, and received treatment or a diagnosis within 35 years of leaving the base, please contact us immediately to discuss your options.
October 28, 2024: On Friday, October 25, plaintiffs disclosed their expert witnesses for the "water contamination" phase in federal court in North Carolina. This phase is the first in a three-part process established by the Court to prove core factual issues in the Camp Lejeune litigation. In the water contamination phase, plaintiffs and the government will address whether, and to what extent, Camp Lejeune’s water supply was contaminated with chemicals known to cause disease. "Disclosing expert witnesses" has a specific meaning in the law. In "disclosing their expert witnesses," plaintiffs provided the government with detailed reports illustrating the severity of the contamination. The next step is for the government to disclose its own expert witnesses and their findings. These are due December 9. Following the exchange of expert reports, both parties will submit legal arguments to the Court regarding the contamination findings. In the coming months, expert disclosures will expand to the "general causation" and "specific causation" phases. In these phases, plaintiffs and the government will litigate whether the chemicals present in Camp Lejeune’s water are capable of causing specific diseases in general, and if these contaminants caused the illnesses affecting the 25 trial plaintiffs in particular. We will continue to monitor and provide updates on the progress of these proceedings as they unfold.
October 3, 2024: Recently, a bipartisan group of legislators introduced a bill to address the delays Camp Lejeune victims have faced in receiving compensation. The bill, introduced by Senators Thom Tillis, Richard Blumenthal, and others, focuses on removing key obstacles by: 1. Expanding court access to reduce the backlog of cases: Under the current law, lawsuits may only be brought in the federal courts in the Eastern District of North Carolina. The bill would allow suits to be brought in any federal court sitting in North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland, Virginia, or West Virginia. 2. Clarifying the right to jury trials: The court in the Eastern District of North Carolina has interpreted the Camp Lejeune Justice Act as not giving plaintiffs the right to a jury trial. While plaintiffs are still appealing this ruling, the legislation would make it crystal clear that plaintiffs have the right to present their cases to a jury of their peers. 3. Simplifying the process of proving harm caused by the contaminated water: The legislation would ease the burden on plaintiffs by clarifying that victims need only show general causation—meaning they were exposed to the contaminated water and developed health conditions linked to it—rather than having to prove specific details about their water exposure decades ago. Additionally, the legislation would establish caps on attorney fees, which are not currently limited. We will continue to monitor the progress of this bill and keep you informed of any updates.
September 24, 2024: The Court held a status hearing with attorneys from the Plaintiffs' Leadership Group (PLG) and the government. The main focuses were (1) progress on fact discovery and (2) the emerging framework for trials. Fact discovery is nearly complete, with a few final key depositions scheduled for late September and October. The scientist who led the government's "water modelling" (the analysis of which chemicals were in the water and when) and Dr. Frank Bove, one of the main researchers of the diseases caused by the contaminated water, will both be deposed in the coming weeks. The parties are close to finalizing an agreement on the process for proving the extent of contamination in the water. The government refuses to stipulate (i.e., admit) any specifics about the water contamination, so the Court is requiring the plaintiffs to prove, from scratch, that there were toxic chemicals in the water. The next status conference is set for October 22, 2024, in Wilmington.
September 18, 2024: The plaintiffs and the government filed a joint status report, which provided several technical updates. Among the updates, the report included new statistics on claims filed. Over 550,000 administrative claims have been filed with the Department of the Navy, which is currently focused on finalizing data entry and addressing duplicate claims. A total of 2,089 lawsuits have been filed under the Camp Lejeune Justice Act (CLJA) as of September 2024, with sixty-six of those cases having been dismissed.
September 17, 2024: In a filing in federal court in North Carolina, the United States government informed the Court that it had finally reached an agreement with the Court-appointed Settlement Masters on a technical issue that had delayed their work for months. The government, citing various security concerns, had struggled to agree on how the Settlement Masters would access government information. Now that this issue has been resolved, the Settlement Masters may soon be able to begin their crucial work facilitating the settlement process.
September 12, 2024: The court held a status conference on Thursday, September 12, 2024. The main issue at this conference was a discovery dispute regarding documents requested by the Plaintiffs' Leadership Group (PLG) from the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). Plaintiffs believe these documents are important in proving key issues about the water contamination and its connection to various diseases. However, NAS had previously refused to produce the documents. NAS has now agreed to allow the PLG to review many of these documents under specific conditions. This is a critical step forward in the case. The next status conference is scheduled for September 24, 2024. We will continue to keep you updated as the case progresses.
September 4, 2024: The court appointed Settlement Masters on July 9th to help the parties negotiate, clarify their positions, and move towards a global resolution for all Lejeune claimants, but their appointment has not yet been finalized due to contracting roadblocks from the government. The court is pushing the parties to simplify the contracts and remove unnecessary requirements so the Settlement Masters can start facilitating settlement discussions as soon as possible.
June 29, 2024: The Court has ordered the parties to propose a schedule for briefing and argument on two key issues: (1) whether and to what extent the water at Camp Lejeune was contaminated with chemicals and (2) whether those chemicals are capable of causing the five Track 1 diseases in humans. These "general causation" issues address whether it's possible for any plaintiff to have received their injury from the contaminated water. Despite the government’s own studies supporting these points, the litigating branch refuses to stipulate the contamination and causation, forcing us to prove it in court. The Court asked for a joint schedule to be proposed on July 12th, with approval expected soon after, establishing a firm schedule for this crucial phase of the case.
June 10, 2024: The Court announced a process to select plaintiffs for the first-ever trials over harm caused by contaminated water at Camp Lejeune. In an order entered on Tuesday, the Court directed the Plaintiffs' Leadership Group (PLG) to select three plaintiffs for each of five diseases: bladder cancer, kidney cancer, Parkinson's disease, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and leukemia—totaling 15 plaintiffs. The Government will then select two plaintiffs from each of these five diseases—making 10 in total and 25 between the Plaintiffs and the Government. These selections should be completed by the end of June. Once the list is set, these plaintiffs will proceed through full discovery proceed to trial, probably by early 2025. We are hopeful that the outcomes of these trials will assist the PLG and the government in reaching a settlement for all cases involving one or more of the five diseases.
April 22, 2024: As part of the ongoing efforts to reach a comprehensive settlement in the Camp Lejeune water contamination cases, attorneys for the plaintiffs and for the government are currently in the process of interviewing candidates for the role of Settlement Master. The parties will then propose selected candidates to the Court, which can appoint one or more of them as the official Settlement Master. Once appointed, a Settlement Master can play a crucial role in facilitating negotiations and helping both parties agree on a reasonable global settlement plan. What is a Settlement Master? A Settlement Master is an impartial individual appointed by a court to oversee complex negotiations in legal disputes. A Settlement Master can be particularly helpful in cases like the Camp Lejeune litigation, where multiple parties and significant legal, scientific, and medical details are involved. The Settlement Master works to ensure that discussions remain productive and focused, aiding in the creation of fair settlement terms that all parties can agree upon. Their involvement can expedite the resolution process, ultimately leading to swifter justice for all involved.
March 26, 2024: The Plaintiffs' Leadership Group (PLG) continues to await the Court's decision on two important motions. First, the PLG has asked the Court to allow an immediate appeal of its ruling that the Camp Lejeune Justice Act (CLJA) does not give plaintiffs the right to trials by jury. The Court ruled on February 6th of this year that trials in CLJA cases are to be held before a judge, not a jury. Plaintiffs will be entitled to appeal this ruling after a trial but must ask the Court for "certification" to appeal immediately. The PLG formally submitted that request on February 15th, but the government opposed it. It is now up to the Court to decide whether to allow the immediate appeal. Second, the PLG has asked the Court to clarify what level of proof plaintiffs must show in a trial to succeed on their claims. The PLG believes that under the CLJA, plaintiffs need to show only that the contaminated water is capable of causing their illness—a concept called "general causation." The government disagrees and has argued that the CLJA maintains a more detailed "causation" standard. All relevant briefs concerning this issue have been submitted, and it is now up to the Court to rule.
Feb 26, 2024: The Court entered an order identifying the conditions from which Track 2 Discovery plaintiffs will be selected. Back in September 2023, the Court announced that discovery and trials in the Camp Lejeune litigation would proceed in “tracks” defined by certain medical conditions. In the same order, the Court announced that the first track would be composed of plaintiffs suffering from bladder cancer, kidney cancer, Parkinson’s disease, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and leukemia. The Court, the plaintiffs, and the government then went through a process to pick 100 plaintiffs—50 with each condition—to move into discovery as “Track 1 plaintiffs.” The Track 1 plaintiffs have been moving through discovery for months now, and we are expecting trials for at least some of them to start later in the year. With today’s order, the Court announced that Track 2 would be composed of plaintiffs suffering from prostate cancer, kidney disease, lung cancer, liver cancer, and breast cancer. Over the next few days, the Plaintiffs’ Leadership Group (PLG) and the government will negotiate a process for selecting a set of plaintiffs with each condition to move into discovery and potentially go to trial. The PLG and the government must submit their joint plan (or separate plans, if they can’t agree) within ten days, after which the Court will get to decide how litigation will run for these “Track 2 plaintiffs.”
Feb 15, 2024: The Plaintiffs’ Leadership Group (PLG) formally asked the Court to allow an early “interlocutory” appeal of its Order deciding that Camp Lejeune plaintiffs aren’t entitled to trials by jury. While decisions like this one can always be appealed after a trial, plaintiffs do not have an automatic right to appeal them immediately. Instead, the Court must agree to “certify” the issue for appeal to the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. And even if the Court agrees to certify its Order, the Judges of the Fourth Circuit will get to decide whether to hear the appeal. The PLG submitted its motion yesterday. We will post an update as soon as the Court issues a decision.
Feb 6, 2024: The Court ruled today that the Camp Lejeune Justice Act does not grant plaintiffs the right to a jury trial. Instead, the Court stated any trials must take place in front of a federal judge who will decide all issues, including whether a plaintiff was, in fact, exposed to contaminated water, whether the plaintiff's injury was caused by their exposure, and, if so, how much compensation the government must pay. The Court's ruling came in response to the government's motion to "strike" the plaintiffs' demand for a jury trial. The plaintiffs opposed the government's motion, arguing that the Camp Lejeune Justice Act indeed guarantees victims the right to present their case to a jury. The exact impact of the Court's ruling is still unclear. The government clearly believes that jury trials would have benefitted plaintiffs, which is why it asked the court to rule that the Camp Lejeune Justice Act does not guarantee jury trials. And there are certainly aspects of jury trials that could give plaintiffs a better chance at fair compensation. But "bench" trials before a judge can also present unique opportunities and may proceed faster than jury trials. The plaintiffs have not decided whether to appeal the ruling. We will keep you updated as this important issue develops further.
Feb 1, 2024: The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) released findings from a new study on the water at Camp Lejeune and the diseases it may cause. Keller Postman and other plaintiffs' lawyers had asked the Court to compel the government to release the study early, but we withdrew the request two weeks ago after the government promised to release it shortly. The study is significant because it provides even more evidence that exposure to the water at Camp Lejeune causes certain diseases like esophageal cancer, breast cancer, and lung cancer. It also identified additional diseases that may be linked to the water, such as thyroid cancer and cancers of the throat and voice box. You can find more detail about the study here.
January 24, 2024: Judge Terrence Boyle held a hearing in Raleigh, North Carolina to discuss the progress of the Camp Lejeune litigation. At the hearing, Keller Postman attorney and Co-Lead Counsel Zina Bash urged Judge Boyle to schedule trials soon to deliver long-delayed justice to Camp Lejeune claimants whose cases have been filed in court. Judge Boyle also pressed the government on its progress in reviewing claims and rolling out its "Elective Option" settlement program. Despite early hopes, the government has extended only a small number of settlement offers so far. No claimant can receive a settlement or a trial until their claim is filed with the Navy. So, if you're a Keller Postman client and you haven't been notified that your claim was filed, please contact a case manager ASAP so we can file it and get you in line for a potential settlement.
January 18, 2024: The government confirmed that the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) will soon release a new study of cancer rates at Camp Lejeune. The plaintiffs had previously asked the court to compel the government to release the study early, but plaintiffs withdrew that request after the government confirmed that the study was coming out this month.
December 6, 2023: Plaintiffs and the government notified the court of the 100 plaintiffs that will proceed towards “Track 1” trials. The plaintiffs and the government will begin exchanging information and records related to these cases and conducting formal interviews with relevant parties soon. After that process concludes next year, trials should begin in some or all of the cases.
November 27, 2023: Plaintiffs and the government each proposed a list of diseases for “Track 2” trials. In an earlier order, the court set up a process to hold trials in ”tracks” defined by disease. For Track 1, the court directed the plaintiffs and the government to select 100 plaintiffs bringing claims based on bladder cancer, kidney cancer, leukemia, Parkinson’s disease, and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. These are the “Track 1” diseases. For “Track 2,” the plaintiffs proposed liver cancer, multiple myeloma, systemic sclerosis/scleroderma, non-cancer kidney diseases, and aplastic anemia. The government proposed prostate cancer, lung cancer, breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, and esophageal cancer.
September 6, 2023: The federal court in the Eastern District of North Carolina published an order setting up a process for some plaintiffs to move towards trials. Under the court’s order, plaintiffs and the government will each select 10 individuals suffering from 5 diseases—that is, 100 total picks, 50 by the government and 50 by the plaintiffs. The initial diseases for these “Track 1” trials are bladder cancer, kidney cancer, leukemia, Parkinson’s disease, and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Over the coming weeks, plaintiffs’ leadership will work to identify 50 individuals to put forth as “Track 1 plaintiffs.”