BISMARCK – U.S. Senators Kevin Cramer (R-ND) and Dan Sullivan (R-AK), members of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, introduced the Protect Camp Lejeune Victims Ensnared by Trial-lawyers’ Scams (VETS) Act to cap the fees trial lawyers can charge in cases representing sick Marines and others impacted by water contamination at the North Carolina military base.
“Our Camp Lejeune veterans deserve, at the very least, affordable legal representation, free of exploitation from trial attorneys looking to pad their own pockets with earnings reserved for victims and their families,” said Senator Cramer. “The fact we are having to legislate on this matter – essentially require certain trial attorneys do the right thing – is shameful. We should always work to honor our servicemembers, and I urge my colleagues to support swift passage of this bill.”
The Camp Lejeune Justice Act was enacted in August 2022 as part of the Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act to compensate individuals exposed to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune. Upon passage of the PACT Act, trial lawyers across the country spent hundreds of millions of dollars in television ads and social media campaigns, seeking out Marines and other victims for Camp Lejeune-related cases and issuing contingency fees as high as 60 percent. The Protect Camp Lejeune VETS Act seeks to remedy this by prohibiting attorneys from charging veterans such astronomical rates and directing the Secretary of the Navy to issue case guidance for claimants.
Joining Senators Cramer and Sullivan are Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA), John Barrasso (R-WY), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Steve Daines (R-MT), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Tom Cotton (R-AR).