CHARLESTON, S.C. (Legal Newsline) - Some of the nation's most prominent plaintiffs law firms are asking for $840 million in attorneys fees from a massive settlement with 3M over chemicals known as PFAS.
Claiming no lawyers have "ever protected American drinking water on this scale," the firms say they are entitled to 8% of $10.5 billion to be paid by 3M. Should the company pay more, the lawyers will request more in fees.
Plaintiff lawyers claim to have spent more than 430,000 hours pursuing the cases, which are consolidated in a multidistrict litigation proceeding in South Carolina federal court.
"This colossal achievement was the result of a sustained and concerted effort directed against all Defendants, whose liability is undeniably intertwined and interrelated," the Dec. 18 motion for fees says.
The figure is unsurprising, as lead counsel already laid out their request in an earlier motion for fees from a $1.185 billion settlement with DuPont. The total amount of fees sought from the two settlements is $934.8 million.
PFAS are a group dubbed "forever chemicals" because they persist in groundwater and human tissue for years. They are found in firefighting foam and consumer products.
The federal government is attempting to set a maximum contaminant level for PFAS, even as groups call the move premature. Much of the research regarding their effect on the human body is disputed.
The settlement came after the judge overseeing federal multidistrict litigation in South Carolina earlier this year ordered a halt to proceedings so 3M and plaintiff lawyers could iron out an agreement. In a situation similar to litigation over asbestos and opioids, 3M still faces lawsuits by individuals and others over PFAS, which it manufactured for years and is found in everything from nonstick pans to cosmetics.
Other defendants range from firefighting products manufacturer Kidde-Kenwal, which filed for bankruptcy in May over the cost of PFAS lawsuits; National Foam; Tyco Fire Products; BASF; Carrier Global; W.L. Gore Associates; and state and federal governments.
Firms asking for the fees are Douglas and London of New York; Napoli Shkolnik of Puerto Rico; Baron & Budd of Dallas; Fegan Scott of Chicago; and Motley Rice of South Carolina.
The settlements are supposed to address problems that public water districts have with PFAS. Many objections have been filed, including by a group of state attorneys general.