SL Environmental Law Group Statement on Michigan Attorney General’s PFAS Settlement Guidance

SL Environmental Law Group appreciates Attorney General Nessel’s commitment to ensuring that Michigan municipalities are well‑informed before entering into agreements with law firms related to the PFAS Public Water System Settlements. In particular, we share the AG’s concern about the presence of unscrupulous actors in the market. Municipalities absolutely should understand who they are hiring and should exercise appropriate diligence when engaging any outside firm.

However, we also believe it is important to clarify why many public water systems do choose to retain experienced counsel—and why doing so can be essential to maximizing recovery under these highly technical, multi‑layered settlements.

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These Settlement Claims Are Complex and High‑Stakes

Although the PFAS settlements provide an online claims portal for the submission of claims, the underlying requirements, documentation demands, and allocation procedures are far from simple. For many water systems, the challenge is not submitting a claim, but doing it correctly, strategically, and in a way that maximizes the benefits they obtain.

Our firm has seen firsthand that agencies attempting to navigate this process on their own have made errors that jeopardize significant portions of their recovery—sometimes even millions of dollars. In some cases, misunderstandings of the settlement structure have put an agency’s entire claim at risk.

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Experienced Counsel Prevents Costly Mistakes and Enhances Recovery

SL Environmental Law Group specializes in environmental contamination work, and, for more than 20 years, our sole focus has been helping public agencies and other utilities try to recover the full costs of remediation—experience that gives us a deep understanding of how both water systems and legal claims for water contamination. truly work. Across hundreds of public water systems nationwide, we have:

• Helped clients secure the maximum recovery available under the  settlement structure, based on their system characteristics, contamination history, and available data, including by developing additional data when necessary.
• Ensured proper documentation and submission so claims are timely and complete.
• Corrected mistakes made by agencies that had started the claims process on their own—in several cases recovering substantially more than a system had anticipated based on its own evaluation.

Though every case is different, and no particular outcome can be guaranteed, our experience has been that our clients have recovered more through careful legal guidance than they would have received by navigating the process independently. In some cases, our involvement even prevented the total loss of potential settlement funds.

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Guidance for Evaluating Qualified Legal Support

We agree with the Attorney General that municipalities should not sign agreements without reading the fine print. We encourage communities to ask any prospective firm:

1. How many years have you practiced water contamination litigation and environmental cost‑recovery work— including any work besides claims under the PFAS settlements?

2. What experience do you have working directly with municipalities and public water systems, and do you understand how they operate financially and technically?

3. Beyond submitting claims, how do you help ensure a water system secures the maximum recovery it is eligible to receive?

4. Can you demonstrate prior success helping public agencies recover contamination‑related costs in complex litigation or settlement frameworks?

5. How do you identify and correct errors or omissions that could reduce or jeopardize a municipality’s recovery?

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A reputable firm will be transparent, experienced, and able to explain exactly how they add value beyond what your agency might do on its own.

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Our Commitment

SL Environmental Law Group supports municipalities in making informed decisions about their legal and financial interests. We also support the Attorney General’s goal of protecting communities from predatory actors. But we firmly believe—and our experience consistently demonstrates—that skilled legal counsel plays a critical role in helping eligible water systems avoid costly errors and maximize the funds available to them under the PFAS settlements.

We remain committed to ensuring that every client we serve receives the full compensation they are entitled to—without risk, without uncertainty, and without leaving money on the table.