Law firms vying to sign up Camp Lejeune clients are sued themselves - Law firms representing major plaintiffs suing the U.S. government over tainted drinking water at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune are facing a flurry of lawsuits based on claims that they employed illegal telemarketing techniques to attract customers.
The Justice Now (Aug 30th ): Law firms representing major plaintiffs suing the U.S. government over tainted drinking water at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune are facing a flurry of lawsuits based on claims that they employed illegal telemarketing techniques to attract customers.
A minimum of 20 companies, which include Watts Guerra, Keller Postman, and Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman, have been slapped with lawsuits in the last year based on claims that they have violated the U.S. Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), which is the anti-telemarketing law of the Federal government in attempting to recruit plaintiffs for the sweeping litigation.
There are more than 20 TCPA lawsuits, which comprise five proposed class actions filed in five federal courts, asserting that lawyers and marketers they collaborate with used various tactics that are prohibited by law, like making use of automated dialers or robocall to call or text individuals who haven’t consented to be contacted.
The violation of the TCPA could result in damages of up to $1500 for each unwanted text or call. For instance, a lawsuit filed against Milberg has over 30 TCPA violations and seeks to recover more than 55,000 dollars in compensation.
Keller Postman, a firm that is the leader in the lawsuit concerning this North Carolina base, represents around 300 litigants in court. Has settled three TCPA lawsuits in the last year for an unspecified amount, according to court records.
“We have acted lawfully at all times and will continue to do so,” an official from Keller Postman spokesperson stated in an announcement.
Another company, Levin Papantonio Rafferty, lost its appeal last month to be able to have a Camp-Lejeune-related TCPA lawsuit dismissed after the West Virginia federal judge said the plaintiff’s claims “plausibly connect Levin Law to the alleged calls.”
The plaintiff in the TCPA suit case against Levin, Diana Mey of Wheeling, West Virginia, stated in court documents that she was contacted by at least 15 calls from Levin’s marketing team regarding Camp Lejeune. Mey has been involved in at least five other TCPA lawsuits unrelated to the Camp Lejeune lawsuit in the last three years. Ryan Donovan, her lawyer in the Camp Lejeune case, said, “Wherever there is money to be made through telemarketing, there seems to always be someone willing to break the law.”
A spokesperson from the Levin firm was not available to discuss the matter. In court documents, the firm claimed it didn’t have any connection to the alleged marketers who make the calls “and had never even heard of it before this action was filed.”
Mikal Watts of Watts Guerra, whose firm was hit with a TCPA lawsuit relating to Camp Lejeune in San Antonio federal court, has told Reuters that he’s “never made such a call and would never direct somebody to make such a call.”
Representatives of Milberg, which is a defendant in at least five lawsuits, have not responded to inquiries for clarification.
ATTRACTIVE TO LAWYERS
The legal battle over Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina, is becoming one of the biggest mass tort cases ever in U.S. history. More than 1,100 federal lawsuits, as well as more than 93,000 claims for administrative relief, have been made to date on behalf of victims, according to government and court records.
The U.S. government has estimated the total amount it pays to families of veterans could be more than $20 billion.
Camp Lejeune cases are particularly appealing to plaintiffs’ attorneys, who are usually compensated by a percentage of the amount they pay their clients because they know that the U.S. government has already admitted that the water was contaminated with hazardous chemical substances between 1953 and 1987, which could lead to cancer, miscarriages, and others.
To allow their client to receive part of the compensation, lawyers must prove that they are an individual, a veteran or family member, or someone who stayed for at least 30 days at the base during the time the water was not safe and also has a condition believed as being caused by chemicals.
The drive to find clients who have Camp Lejeune connections has resulted in a flurry of marketing advertising, with more than $130 million being splurged over the past year on Camp Lejeune advertisements, according to the mass litigation research company X Ante, which uses Vivvix data on advertising. More than 200 businesses have had ads that solicit Camp Lejeune claims, as per X Ante founder and president Rustin Silverstein.
Lawyers sued for TCPA violations are rare, per Eric Troutman of Troutman Amin, who has represented clients in other cases involving the statute.
Troutman explained that the cash involved with the Camp Lejeune case has attracted many lead producers and marketers hoping to take a slice of the staked money.
