Camp Lejeune water contamination cases remain one of the most significant mass tort dockets in recent years. The PACT Act opened the courthouse doors, but the window is not indefinite. The firms converting the most callers into retained clients are not the ones with the largest ad spend. They are the ones whose intake process — whoever picks up the phone — can qualify or disqualify a caller in under ten minutes without losing the lead.
This guide gives you a repeatable framework for Camp Lejeune intake qualification. Use it to train your front desk, script your intake calls, and stop letting qualified callers slip through.
Why Camp Lejeune Intake Requires a Different Approach
Most personal injury intake follows a two-part gate: liability and damages. Camp Lejeune cases add a third gate that many intake staff handle badly: federal eligibility under the Camp Lejeune Justice Act (CLJA). Callers frequently self-disqualify — “I was only there a few months, probably not enough” — or self-qualify with diseases that do not appear on the Tier I or Tier II lists. Without a trained intake process, you either reject viable cases or waste retainer time on non-starters.
The federal statute is specific. Eligibility requires residency or work at the base for at least 30 days between August 1, 1953 and December 31, 1987. The contaminated water supply served the base. Veterans, family members who lived on base, and civilian employees all qualify if they meet the residency threshold. The disease link is established through the two-tier system created by the VA’s PACT Act regulations.
The Eligibility Gates: Work Through These in Order
Whoever takes the call should work through three sequential gates. If any gate fails, the case closes. Do not skip ahead.
Gate 1 — Base Residency
Ask directly: “Were you stationed at, lived at, or worked at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina?” If yes: “Do you know roughly what years that was?” You are looking for any overlap with August 1953 through December 1987. If the caller was there outside that window — after 1987, for instance — the statutory eligibility period is not met. Close the call professionally and note the disqualification.
Duration matters: 30 cumulative days within the eligibility period. Marines who did multiple tours each lasting a few weeks should be asked about cumulative time. “I was there three times, maybe a month each time” clears the threshold. Document the time range, not just the yes/no.
Gate 2 — Relationship to the Base
Veterans are the primary callers, but eligible claimants also include:
- Spouses and dependents who lived on base with the service member
- Civilian contractors and employees who worked on base
- In-utero exposure cases (child born to a mother who lived at the base during the eligibility window)
Family member cases often have strong damages — childhood cancers, birth defects, miscarriages. Do not screen them out because they were not the veteran. Confirm their relationship to the service member and their own presence on base.
Gate 3 — Diagnosed Qualifying Condition
This is where most intake calls either convert or collapse. You need a current diagnosis — not symptoms, not suspicion. The caller should have received a formal medical diagnosis of one of the following conditions.
The Qualifying Conditions: What Your Intake Staff Must Know Cold
The VA has established two tiers. Tier I conditions have a presumptive connection — the VA (and most courts) treat the causal link as established without further proof. Tier II conditions require case-specific causation evidence.
Tier I — Presumptive Conditions
- Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
- Adult leukemia (all forms)
- Aplastic anemia and other myelodysplastic syndromes
- Bladder cancer
- Kidney cancer
- Liver cancer
- Multiple myeloma
- Non-melanoma skin cancer
- Parkinson’s disease and related neurodegenerative diseases
- Renal toxicity
- Scleroderma
These are your strongest cases. A caller with a Tier I condition and confirmed base residency within the eligibility window is a qualified lead. Move to retainer.
Tier II — Causation Required
- Breast cancer
- Esophageal cancer
- Lung cancer
- Prostate cancer
- Miscarriage
- Female infertility
- Hepatic steatosis (fatty liver disease)
- Neurobehavioral effects
- Renal toxicity variants not covered under Tier I
Tier II cases require expert medical causation evidence but are absolutely viable. The decision to take a Tier II case depends on your firm’s litigation infrastructure and risk tolerance, not on whether the intake person recognizes the disease. Flag it as Tier II and escalate to an attorney for a second-stage review.
The Five-Step Intake Call Script
Give this to whoever picks up the phone. The language is plain. The sequence is non-negotiable.
Step 1 — Open With Empathy, Close With Purpose
“Thank you for calling. I want to make sure I get the right information so we can tell you whether your situation qualifies. This should take about 8 to 10 minutes. Is that okay?” Framing the call length manages expectations and reduces hang-ups before Gate 1.
Step 2 — Establish Base Residency and Timeline
“Were you stationed at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina — or did you live or work there?” If yes: “What years were you there?” Record both the start and end year. Calculate or estimate cumulative days if the caller mentions multiple tours or breaks in service. If the date range falls entirely outside 1953–1987, the call is over. “I’m sorry, the legal claims available under federal law only apply to time at the base before the end of 1987. Based on what you’ve shared, it sounds like you may not fall within that window. But I’d encourage you to double-check your service records just in case.”
Step 3 — Identify the Qualifying Diagnosis
“Have you been diagnosed with any serious illness — cancer, Parkinson’s disease, kidney or liver disease, or any blood disorder?” Let the caller describe their condition in their own words before you interpret it. Do not read the list aloud — you will prompt yes answers. Once they describe it, you ask: “Has a doctor formally diagnosed you with that condition?” Then match it to the Tier I or Tier II list.
Common intake mistakes here: accepting “I think I might have pre-cancer” (not a qualifying diagnosis), or rejecting a caller who says “blood problems” without probing for the specific diagnosis (which might be aplastic anemia or myelodysplastic syndrome, both Tier I).
Step 4 — Assess Damages for Case Value
Once eligibility is confirmed, quickly assess the damages picture: Is the condition active or in remission? Has the caller undergone chemotherapy, surgery, or radiation? Are there ongoing medical expenses? What is their current quality of life? This does not need to be deep — three or four questions establishes whether this is a high-value case or a borderline one.
Step 5 — Capture Contact and Set the Next Step
“Based on what you’ve shared, your situation sounds like it may qualify. I want to get your information to our attorneys today. Can I get your full name, best phone number, and email?” Then: “Someone from our legal team will reach out within [timeframe]. In the meantime, if you have any medical records or discharge paperwork, it would be helpful to have those available.” Close with the timeline commitment and hold it.
Documentation Your Intake Person Should Gather on the First Call
Do not wait for a second call to collect this. Callers who leave the first call without converting frequently do not call back. Have the intake person capture:
- Full legal name and date of birth
- Approximate years at Camp Lejeune
- Branch of service and unit if a veteran (or relationship to service member if a family claimant)
- Diagnosis, diagnosing physician, and approximate diagnosis date
- Whether a VA claim has already been filed
- Whether the caller has already contacted another law firm
- Best contact method and time zone
The VA claim status matters. Claimants who filed a VA administrative claim before filing a CLJA action may have statute of limitations implications depending on their claim history. Flag it for attorney review — do not try to resolve it at intake.
Red Flags and Disqualifiers
Not every caller who wants to file a case should be retained. Identify these early and close cleanly:
- Post-1987 residency only. The contaminated water supply was remediated. Claims based on time at the base after December 31, 1987 are not covered by the CLJA.
- No formal diagnosis. Symptoms, suspicion, or family history of disease without a personal diagnosis does not qualify. Encourage the caller to pursue a diagnosis and circle back.
- Already settled or received compensation. Callers who accepted a VA settlement or signed a release may be barred from additional recovery. Refer to an attorney immediately — do not make this call at intake.
- Condition not on either tier list. Hypertension, PTSD, and other service-connected conditions frequently appear on VA claims but are not covered under the CLJA framework. Explain that the federal law covers specific diseases linked to the water contamination.
Handling the “I’m Not Sure About the Dates” Caller
A significant percentage of callers do not have their service records in front of them. Do not disqualify based on uncertainty alone. The question is whether the caller can plausibly recall time at the base within the eligibility window.
Prompts that help: “Do you remember what was happening in your life around that time — were you married, did you have kids, what base did you go to next?” Memory anchoring against personal events is more reliable than asking someone to recall specific years cold.
If the caller is clearly uncertain about whether they were at Lejeune versus another base, do not retain speculatively. Tell them: “The best next step is to pull your service records — you can request them through the National Archives at archives.gov. Once you have those, we can confirm eligibility and move forward.” Give them the path and your contact information. Note the callback date.
Converting the “I Need to Think About It” Caller
CLJA cases have federal statute of limitations issues that create legitimate urgency without manufactured pressure. If a caller hedges: “There is a legal deadline for filing these claims under federal law. I want to make sure you don’t miss the window by waiting on this. Can we at least get your information on file today, and you can take as much time as you need before signing anything?” You are not closing a retainer — you are capturing the lead for attorney follow-up. Reduce friction at intake, not at signing.
What Happens After Intake: Connecting to VA Claims
Many callers have filed or intend to file VA disability claims alongside their CLJA action. These are parallel processes — pursuing one does not waive the other, but the strategy implications differ. At intake, document any pending or resolved VA claims and flag them for the supervising attorney. Do not advise on coordination strategy at the intake level. This is attorney work.
What your intake person can say: “The VA claim and the legal claim are two separate processes. Our attorneys will explain how they work together when they review your case. The important thing right now is that we have your information documented.”
The Bottom Line on Camp Lejeune Intake
Camp Lejeune intake is not complicated. Three gates — base residency in the eligibility window, qualifying relationship, confirmed diagnosis — determine whether a case exists. The firms losing cases are not losing them because the callers are unqualified. They are losing them because the person on the phone does not know the gates, cannot match a diagnosis to the tier list, or creates enough friction that the caller hangs up and calls the next firm on Google.
Train whoever picks up the phone on the three gates, the tier list, and the five-step script. Capture everything on the first call. Set a firm follow-up commitment and hold it. The case will be there when the attorney picks it up.