Ensuring Justice for Camp Lejeune Victims Act of 2024

This bill makes technical corrections to the Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022, which allows individuals harmed by contaminated water at Camp Lejeune to sue the U.S. government. It changes where cases can be filed, how harm is defined, the standard of proof, and attorney fee limits.

Sec. 2, Technical corrections: The bill removes the requirement that cases must be filed only in the Eastern District of North Carolina, allowing them to be filed in any federal court. It adds 'latent or potential harm' to the types of harm for which relief can be sought. It changes the burden of proof so that a claimant must show a relationship between the type of contaminant and the type of harm, and that they were at Camp Lejeune for at least 30 days. The evidence must show a causal relationship exists or is at least as likely as not. It gives the Eastern District of North Carolina exclusive jurisdiction for pretrial matters but allows cases to be transferred to any district court in the fourth judicial circuit for trial. It also changes the offset of benefits from 'shall' to 'may' and adds a new section on attorney fees, capping them at 20% of settlements before a lawsuit is filed and 25% of judgments or settlements after, with fees divided proportionally among attorneys not in the same firm.

Sec. 3, Effective date: The bill takes effect as if enacted on August 10, 2022, and applies to any pending claim under the Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022.