How to Maximize Your Chances of Receiving Camp Lejeune Payouts

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Anyone who has stayed or worked at Camp Lejeune between 1953 and 1987 is aware of the repercussions of the region’s toxic waters. People who have consumed or used the water have mostly developed life-threatening health issues like cancer and birth defects. It’s natural for these people to want justice and fair compensation to cover their pain and suffering.

Thankfully, the Camp Lejeune Justice Act (CLJA) of 2022 enables veterans and their family members to file a lawsuit and seek compensation. However, no legal procedure is easy, and it needs certain preparations.

In this article, we will discuss the essential steps that will help people adversely affected by the polluted waters at Camp Lejeune file a lawsuit and get the settlement payout they deserve.

Recover Your Camp Lejeune Compensation: The Steps to Prepare

The civilian employees, family members, and military veterans who are eligible to receive financial compensation from CLJA should take a few steps to assert their individual legal rights. For filing a Camp Lejeune contaminated water lawsuit and expecting the settlement payout, claimants must follow certain procedures.

The necessary steps include:

Validate Your Eligibility

It is the first and most important step to seek financial compensation for your suffering under the CLJA. It asks for three principal eligibilities:

  • Exposure: To become eligible for compensation, the claimants must have been affected by the tainted water of this region for almost 30 days between August 1st, 1953, and December 31st, 1987.

  • Harm: The claimants must suffer from ailments or debilitating health conditions linked to VOCs (volatile organic compounds) in the Camp Lejeune waters at the time of the contamination. The ailments include congenital cardiac defects, liver cancer, Parkinson’s disease, kidney cancer, liver cancer, bladder cancer, and various other types of cancer.

  • Causation: According to the law, the claimants must provide the required proof that is apt to conclude that there is a plausible reason for their claim. That means merely getting exposed to the toxic waters isn’t enough. The claimants should be able to provide proof that establishes their physical harm.

Any person who can cater to all these requirements can file their claim within the stipulated time, which is August 2024. Once they do so, they will have a greater chance of recovering the compensation they deserve and using it to cover their medical expenses or ongoing costs that they have trouble paying, because they have health issues.

Collect All Crucial Documentation

Anyone who is waiting to receive compensation through their Camp Lejeune lawsuit will need to document their eligibility. It means they need to provide evidence of the time they have stayed in this region along with medical records of their ailment linked to the contaminated water.

In addition to this, there is a need for claimants to provide documentation on the amount they wish to recover. According to the CLJA, the claimants should receive the appropriate relief for the damages that they have endured because of the toxic water exposure. 

Even though there might not be a precise description of what ‘appropriate relief’ must amount to, the claimants need to validate their right to recovery of:

  • Lost earnings

  • Medical costs

  • Pain and suffering

  • Other non-economic and economic losses

  • Wrongful death damages

Usually, if there is more documentation, it is better. In case you don’t know the records and documents you require to establish your rights based on the CLJA Act, getting in touch with an expert lawyer is useful.

Contact a Lawyer

Owing to the time constraints and challenges involved in the lawsuit processes, claimants must get in touch with a lawyer who can help them in their legal journey. It is also essential for claimants to know whether their case stands a chance of pursuing legal compensation. 

The lawyer is the correct person to assess the evidence provided by the claimants and determine whether they should file a lawsuit. The initial consultation is where this decision gets made.

Additionally, filing a lawsuit can take a toll on one’s mental health as well. An expert lawyer is the one who provides the necessary guidance that helps claimants stay grounded and not resort to any aggressive or rash thinking or action that might cancel out their chances of receiving the payout they deserve.

Gathering and Submitting Crucial Evidence to the Lawyer

Your lawyer is the one who is accountable for developing a strong case. And they can do it with the evidence that you provide them. TorHoerman Law states that a claimant must provide proof like medical records, military service records, health care data, travel proof, and the like with their lawyers to ensure they use it to build a compelling case that ensures the verdict is in the claimant’s favor.

Know That There Could Be Delays

For Camp Lejeune lawsuit settlements, most people are aware of the delays. However, this shouldn’t discourage claimants from filing their legal cases to seek compensation.

Instead, they should try to find out the reason for the delays and have practical expectations. It is necessary to know that no legal process gets completed overnight. And for Camp Lejeune's legal claims, it might take slightly more time for the claimants to receive the payouts.

Today, the ‘Elective Option’ has become popular as it allows the claimants to receive fast compensation. However, claimants must discuss the pros and cons of this option with their lawyers to find out whether it would act in their favor or not. Just in case a traditional lawsuit promises more compensation compared to the ‘Elective Option’, it is a wise decision for the claimant to choose the former.

Finally, it is essential for veterans and others who have suffered during their stay at Camp Lejeune during the contamination period to take the necessary action to get compensated. By filing a lawsuit they will not just raise voices about the harm they endured but also bring about more awareness about the issue. 

While filing a lawsuit might seem like the most obvious solution, it is essential to adhere to a few guidelines to make sure the chances of getting compensated are higher. The guidelines mentioned above will accomplish this.