Camp Lejeune Justice Act Trials Should Begin This Year
North Carolina judges have promised a speedy resolution for 1500 plaintiffs who have suffered from deadly Camp Lejeune water contamination cancer and other illnesses
Thursday, January 4, 2024 - The start of the new year brings hope to people who have been injured by drinking contaminated water at Camp Lejeune. US Marines, civilian employees working on the base, and more importantly, the children who attended daycare and school drank water that the military knew was contaminated and could cause cancer. Pregnant mothers also unknowingly drank the water that was contaminated with volatile organic chemicals. Camp Lejeune water lawsuits will be starting soon with 2024 being the first of many years to come. About 1500 individual lawsuits have been allocated to four judges serving the Eastern District of North Carolina where all Camp Lejeune water lawsuits must be filed. To qualify to file a lawsuit one must have first had their administrative claim rejected or had the Navy fail to respond to the initial administrative claim in six months. Another way that the lawsuit avenue opens up for those injured by Camp Lejeune water is if one's Elective Option claims are denied or delayed.
Reuters reports on the legal landscape to expect this year, in an article titled: " First trials, major fights will shape Camp Lejeune litigation in 2024," telling readers, " In the coming year, litigation over tainted water at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune may involve the first trials, which could decide liability and damages for several types of cancer claims as one of the biggest mass torts takes shape. Nearly 150,000 administrative claims and 1,500 lawsuits have been filed over the water at the Jacksonville, North Carolina Marine base, which was contaminated for decades with chemicals that government scientists have linked to cancer and other diseases." It is likely that certain cases are likely to be grouped together in multi-plaintiff trials. Reuters reports that the first bellwether trials in 2024 may be for plaintiffs with "leukemia, Parkinson's disease, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, bladder cancer and kidney cancer." Each judge has been assigned about 360 cases so grouping those with similar illnesses should be straightforward. Previously North Carolina judges promised those who filed Camp Lejeune water lawsuits would enjoy a speedy trial. WUNC.org North Carolina interviewed Camp Lejeune water attorneys for their take on what could become a backlog of trials. " Plaintiffs' attorney Mikal Watts of San Antonio said the judge's message was clear. "It's going to be a rocket docket," he said, "which is what it needs to do, because our clients, because the exposure was so long ago, are up there in age." "They can't wait around for lawyers to dicker around for years and years and years," Watts said. Judge Dever's show of control was also a signal that the judges plan to steer the case with a firm hand, rather than simply preside as it plays out," according to WUNC. Due to the terminal nature of cancer, more and more Camp Lejeune cancer lawsuits have to be amended to become wrongful death lawsuits with each passing month. Time is of the essence.
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