Camp Lejeune Fix Clarifies Lawsuits, Caps Lawyer Fees at 25%, and Changes How VA Benefits Offset Awards

The Ensuring Justice for Camp Lejeune Victims Act of 2025 is essentially a major tune-up for the 2022 law that allowed veterans and their families who were exposed to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune to sue the federal government. This isn't a new fight; it's about fixing the rules of the existing fight to make them clearer and, in some ways, fairer—but watch out for the fine print on compensation.

Making the Lawsuit Road Less Congested

If you’re a Camp Lejeune claimant, this bill changes the logistics of your case. Previously, all lawsuits had to be filed and tried in the Eastern District of North Carolina. Think of that court like a single, overwhelmed DMV line for the whole country. This bill keeps that court in charge of the initial paperwork and pretrial coordination, but it allows the actual trial to be transferred to any federal district court within the fourth judicial circuit (which covers North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland). This should spread the workload and potentially speed things up. On top of that, the bill explicitly grants the right to a jury trial against the U.S. government, which is a big deal in civil litigation (Sec. 2).

What You Need to Prove Just Got Broader

One of the biggest hurdles in these cases is proving that the contaminated water actually caused the illness. The new law clarifies the standard of proof, which should help claimants. You now only need to show that the connection between the contaminant and your harm is “as likely as not” to exist. The language also expands the scope of injury from “latent disease” to “latent or potential harm.” This means if you have a condition that hasn't fully manifested but is a known risk from the exposure, you might still have a claim. This is a crucial clarification for conditions that take decades to develop or are still being monitored (Sec. 2).

The Compensation Catch: When to Settle Matters

Here is the part that demands attention, especially if you are already receiving disability payments from the VA or Medicare/Medicaid. The bill creates two tiers for how your settlement money is treated regarding offsets:

1. Settling Early (Before Filing a Lawsuit): If you settle your claim before you formally file a lawsuit in court, the money you receive cannot be reduced or offset by any VA disability payments or other government benefits you are receiving for the same water-exposure injury. This protects the full value of early settlements.
2. Settling Late (After Filing a Lawsuit) or Winning a Judgment: If you settle or win a judgment after you file the lawsuit, your award will be offset (reduced) by the amount of those VA and government benefits you received.

This distinction creates a significant financial difference for claimants. If you’re already receiving substantial VA benefits, settling early is financially advantageous, as you get to keep both the benefit payments and the full settlement amount (Sec. 2).

Attorney Fees Are Capped

The bill puts clear limits on what lawyers can charge for handling these claims, which is good news for claimants worried about excessive legal bills. The maximum fee is capped based on the timing of the resolution:

• 20% of the settlement amount if the case is resolved before a lawsuit is filed.
• 25% of the final amount if the case is resolved after a lawsuit is filed.

While these caps offer protection, the difference between the 20% and 25% cap, combined with the offset rule, creates a strange incentive structure. Lawyers might be incentivized to file the lawsuit quickly to secure the higher 25% fee cap, even if an early settlement might have been possible. This is a detail that claimants should discuss thoroughly with their legal counsel (Sec. 2).

Crucially, all of these changes—the venue rules, the proof standards, the offset rules, and the fee caps—apply retroactively, as if they were signed into law on August 10, 2022. If you have a case pending, these new rules apply to you immediately. However, the original deadlines for filing a claim remain untouched (Sec. 3, Sec. 4).