AFFF Injury Lawyers Seek Reappointment to Leadership Roles in Federal MDL

Injury lawyer leadership appointments in the federal AFFF litigation technically expired in May, but plaintiffs and defendants are now asking the presiding judge to reinstate them for another term.

As preparations continue for the first bellwether lawsuits to go before a jury this fall, involving allegations that exposure to toxic chemicals in aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) caused the development of cancer and other injuries, lawyers have filed a motion asking the U.S. District Judge presiding over the litigation to reappoint them to continue serving in various leadership positions for another year.

Dozens of chemical and safety equipment companies currently face more than 11,000 AFFF lawsuits brought in the federal court system, each alleging that the companies should be held liable for failing to warn about the health risks linked to their products, which not only come into direct contact with firefighters during training and response exercises, but have also leached toxic chemicals into water supplies nationwide, especially near military bases, airports and other training locations.

AFFF sold in recent decades contained per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which are resistant to heat, water and oil. However, PFAS are now widely referred to as “forever chemicals,” since they persist in the environment and build up in the human body, increasing the risk of several different serious health conditions, including testicular cancer, kidney cancer, liver cancer, thyroid cancer, thyroid disease and ulcerative colitis.

AFFF injury lawyers represent both military and civilian firefighters who suffered direct chemical exposure during training exercises and emergency response, as well as water contamination lawsuits brought by individuals exposed to PFAS after they entered local water supplies.

In December 2018, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation ordered all AFFF and PFAS injury lawsuits to be centralized in the District of South Carolina before U.S. District Judge Richard M. Gergel, for coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings.

As part of the management of the mass tort litigation, Judge Gergel has scheduled a series of AFFF lawsuit bellwether trials to begin on October 20, 2025, focusing on a small group of individuals who developed kidney cancer, testicular cancer, thyroid disease or ulcerative colitis after exposure to contaminated water in several locations.

These early test cases are designed to give the parties a sense of how juries will respond to evidence and expert testimony likely to be repeated throughout the litigation, and could have a major impact on AFFF settlement negotiations in the coming months.

AFFF Injury Lawyer Reappointments

One of Judge Gergel’s first actions when the multidistrict litigation (MDL) was formed was to appoint a group of plaintiffs’ AFFF injury lawyers to serve in leadership positions representing the interests of all plaintiffs involved in the litigation.

However, in a joint motion (PDF) filed by both plaintiffs and defendants on August 6, the parties pointed out that their appointed terms of service actually expired in May. They are now asking Judge Gergel to reappoint both the plaintiff and defense leadership teams for another term, until at least May 2026.

Both sides made some minor changes to the teams of leading counsel but had no objections to any changes the other side made. In addition, the parties indicated the motions were supported by the special masters assisting them in their settlement negotiations.

“In their roles they have had communications with each member and reviewed past-work performed, and they support the re-application of each PEC (Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee) member at this time.”

–Joint Motion for Entry of Case Management Order Appointing Plaintiff and Defendant Leadership for the may 2025 to May 2026 Term

As they get ready for the first bellwether trial in October, AFFF injury lawyers are also preparing a separate group of claims involving liver cancer and thyroid cancer for a second wave of bellwether trials, which are expected to begin sometime next year.

While the outcome of these early bellwether trials will not have any binding impact on other claims, it is expected that the amount of any AFFF injury lawsuit payouts awarded by juries may influence future settlement negotiations to resolve the litigation.