AFFF and PFAS Claims in Los Angeles
Firefighting foam and PFAS exposure claims, reviewed from a downtown Los Angeles office by attorney Bejan Broukhim.
How an AFFF firefighting foam claim works.
If you worked with firefighting foam or lived near a place where it was used, you may need an AFFF firefighting foam lawyer in Los Angeles who will trace your exposure, connect it to your diagnosis and protect your claim before a deadline passes. Broukhim Legal PC represents people with AFFF and PFAS claims across Los Angeles County and California, and attorney Bejan Broukhim personally reviews each case.
On this page: Key takeaways · Why choose Broukhim Legal PC · Who may qualify · What the lawsuits allege · Records to gather · Deadlines to file · What compensation may be sought · What a lawyer costs · Where we handle these claims
Key takeaways
- Claims over aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) and PFAS are consolidated in MDL 2873 in the District of South Carolina, but each person still has an individual claim built on their own exposure and medical records.
- A claim needs two things in parallel: a documented exposure history and a diagnosed condition on the list the litigation is working from. One without the other does not get far.
- Two groups bring most claims: occupational exposure (firefighters, military personnel, industrial workers) and contaminated drinking water near bases, airports and fire training sites.
- Generally you have two years to file an injury lawsuit in California, but when the injury and its cause were discovered later, the clock may run from discovery. Have your dates reviewed early.
- Broukhim Legal PC takes these cases on a contingency fee: nothing up front, and no fee unless we recover for you.
Why choose Broukhim Legal PC for your AFFF firefighting foam case?
- Exposure built from records. A foam claim is won on proof of where and how long you were exposed, so we start with service records, training logs, employment files and public water testing data for your water system.
- Medical and exposure evidence kept together. We line up your diagnosis, pathology and treatment records with your exposure history so the two halves of the claim support each other.
- Other chemical exposures reviewed too. Working lives often involve more than one chemical, so where glyphosate or paraquat was also handled, that exposure is reviewed alongside this one rather than separately.
- Direct access to your lawyer. Bejan Broukhim personally reviews your case and leads its strategy. You can speak directly with him about your case, and if another law firm is ever brought in, that happens only with your written consent.
- Years of experience, fully licensed. Bejan Broukhim brings years of experience in California injury and mass tort law and holds an active California law license, State Bar number 183036.
- No fee unless we recover for you. You pay nothing up front, and if nothing is recovered you owe no fee.
- Ready for court. Every case is prepared from day one as though it will go to trial, so any settlement offer is measured against a case that is ready to be tried.
Who may qualify for an AFFF firefighting foam lawsuit?
Two groups bring most of these claims.
- Occupational exposure. Municipal and airport firefighters, military personnel who trained with or used the foam, and industrial workers at sites that manufactured or handled it. California has a long history of aircraft rescue firefighting training at civil and military airfields, and service records are usually the starting point.
- Water contamination. People who lived for years near a base, airport, fire training facility or industrial site where the foam entered the groundwater. That is a geography question before it is a medical one, and public testing data for a given water system often exists.
Exposure has been alleged for a wider group than many people assume: airport and airfield crews, aviation mechanics, refinery and chemical plant workers, base personnel and veterans, seasonal and contract firefighters, and families who lived near a base or airport where the water became contaminated. If you are not sure which group you fall into, a short conversation usually settles it.
What do the AFFF firefighting foam lawsuits allege?
The lawsuits allege that manufacturers of AFFF, and of the PFAS chemicals in it, knew the substances persisted in the body and in the environment, and that they failed to warn of a risk of serious illness. PFAS are often called forever chemicals because they break down very slowly. The conditions most commonly described in the filings are:
- Kidney cancer
- Testicular cancer
- Thyroid disease
- Ulcerative colitis
- Liver cancer
These remain allegations in contested litigation rather than established findings. The cases are consolidated before a federal judge and move on two parallel tracks: personal injury claims and water contamination claims. Even so, this is not a class action. Each claim stays separate, built on that person’s exposure and their own medical records.
What records do AFFF claims need?
What has to be built is the exposure, and more paper exists than most people expect. Useful records include:
- Employment history and station or department records.
- Training records showing foam use, since many trainings were burn drills repeated year after year.
- Military service files and the DD-214.
- Occupational health records and annual physicals.
- Statements from coworkers who shared the same work.
- Water testing studies for the area, if you lived near a base or airport.
On the medical side you need the diagnosis with its pathology report and the treatment file. If the person has already been treated, or has died, the case can still exist: California allows a wrongful death claim and a claim by the estate. Records are requested for you, so you do not have to chase them.
How long do you have to file an AFFF claim in California?
- Two years to file a personal injury suit, under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1.
- Delayed discovery. For illnesses that appear years after exposure, the two years can run from when the injury and its likely cause were, or should have been, discovered. That rule is applied to the facts of each person, so it is not something to assume.
- Wrongful death. A family claim after a death is brought by those listed in Code of Civil Procedure section 377.60.
Because the date of diagnosis, the date you learned of the possible link and your exposure history all matter, have your dates reviewed early instead of waiting.
Can you still bring a claim if the exposure happened at work?
Yes. Workers’ compensation does not close the door. A claim against the manufacturer of the foam is separate from a workers’ compensation claim, and it can be pursued on its own. Seasonal and contract firefighters, airport crews and industrial workers are among those who have raised these claims.
What compensation may be sought in an AFFF claim?
- Medical expenses, past and future, including surgery, cancer treatment and ongoing monitoring.
- Lost earnings and loss of future earning capacity.
- Pain, suffering and emotional distress, and the loss of enjoyment of life.
- Wrongful death damages for the family under Code of Civil Procedure section 377.60 when an illness proves fatal.
- Punitive damages under Civil Code section 3294, only where malice, oppression or fraud can be shown.
No one can promise an outcome or a value. What a claim may be worth depends on the diagnosis, the treatment, the strength of the exposure evidence and how the litigation develops.
How much does an AFFF firefighting foam lawyer cost?
No fee unless there is a recovery. Broukhim Legal PC takes these cases on a contingency fee, so there is nothing to pay up front and the fee is paid out of what is recovered. If nothing is recovered, no fee is owed. The fee agreement is put in writing and signed before any work starts, as California law requires (Business and Professions Code section 6147), and the costs of running the case are explained in that same agreement rather than left to the end. Your first conversation is free, confidential and carries no obligation.
Where we handle AFFF claims
Mass tort claims are taken on for clients across Los Angeles County: Santa Clarita, Long Beach, Pasadena, Glendale, Burbank, Torrance, Inglewood, Pomona, Downey, Norwalk, El Monte, Santa Monica and West Covina. These cases are consolidated in federal or state court rather than heard locally, so where you live does not limit the claim. Broukhim Legal PC works from 550 S Hill Street in downtown Los Angeles.
Read about our other mass tort cases, see all locations we serve, or tell us what happened for a free case review.
Meet your Los Angeles AFFF firefighting foam lawyer
Bejan Broukhim, Founder and Lead Attorney
State Bar of California, license number 183036
Bejan Broukhim brings years of California legal experience to injury and mass tort cases and personally reviews each one. He earned his J.D. at the University of West Los Angeles School of Law, served as a judicial extern in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court and the Van Nuys Superior Court, and appeared in preliminary hearings as a certified law clerk with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. Every case is prepared from day one as though it will go to trial.
Office: 550 S Hill Street, Suite 1390, Los Angeles, CA 90013, serving all of Los Angeles County and California. Get directions
AFFF foam and PFAS cases we take on in Los Angeles
- Occupational exposure: Municipal, airport or military firefighting, including training exercises where the foam was used repeatedly.
- Military service records: Where you were stationed and in what role, which is often the clearest documentary record of exposure.
- Residential exposure: Living near a base, airport, fire training ground or industrial site, with the years and the water system.
- A diagnosed condition: Documented by a clinician, with the pathology report where one exists.
- Duration: How many years the exposure ran, which matters more in these cases than in most.
- Water testing data: Public results for a utility or a base often exist and can be obtained rather than reconstructed from memory.
Our process.
Consultation
A confidential first conversation. We review the facts, tell you where you stand, and set out the realistic options.
Strategy
Scope and fees agreed in writing, then a plan built from day one as if the matter will go to trial.
Resolution
We negotiate from a position of strength, and litigate aggressively when that is what your interests require.
See if a claim can be reviewed.
Takes 30 seconds. Confidential, and no obligation.
Confidential. No obligation. Submitting does not create an attorney-client relationship. By submitting, you agree that Broukhim Legal PC may contact you about your inquiry by phone, text or email. Message and data rates may apply. Reply STOP to opt out of texts. Consent is not a condition of hiring the firm.
AFFF and PFAS claims, answered plainly.
No. Exposure on its own is not a claim. What the litigation is working from is an exposure history together with a diagnosed condition on the list the proceeding recognises. A firefighter with documented foam use and no qualifying diagnosis does not have a case, and being told that honestly is better than being signed up and left waiting.
No. An MDL groups cases before one judge so that the shared questions, the science, the corporate documents, general causation, are handled once instead of thousands of times. Each claim remains separate, built on that person’s own exposure and medical records, with its own outcome.
It depends heavily on when the diagnosis was made and when the possible connection to PFAS exposure was or reasonably should have been discovered. For illnesses with a long latency, that discovery question often matters more than the diagnosis date. A single deadline cannot honestly be stated on a web page, so have it assessed against your own records.
The first conversation costs nothing, is confidential and carries no obligation. It is mostly a history: where you served or worked and in which years, whether foam was used in training or at live incidents, or which address and which water system if the exposure was residential, and what has since been diagnosed. Service and procurement records are then requested rather than left to memory. If the exposure history and the diagnosis do not line up, you are told that and nothing further happens. If they do, the matter is taken on a contingency fee, so there is nothing to pay up front and the fee is paid out of what is recovered. If there is no recovery, no fee is owed. The fee agreement is put in writing and signed before any work starts, which is what California law requires, and the costs of running the case are explained in that same agreement.
Residential exposure claims are a substantial part of this litigation. What matters is where you lived, for how long, and which water system served that address. Public testing data for many utilities and military installations already exists, so this is usually a question of obtaining records rather than proving something from memory.
Individual claimants are not expected to identify a product by brand. Procurement and service records, the type of facility, and the period of use do most of that work, and the litigation has mechanisms for addressing which manufacturers supplied what. Bring the service and residence history and let the records do the rest.
You will be asked for the specifics: where and when you were exposed, in what role or at what address, your treating providers, and authorisation to collect your records. Those records are reviewed against the litigation’s criteria and you are told candidly whether the claim proceeds. If it does, it is filed and joins the coordinated proceedings, where much of what follows is common to all claimants.
General information about California law, not legal advice, and no attorney-client relationship is created by reading it. Deadlines and outcomes turn on the facts of your own matter, so have yours reviewed. By submitting, you agree that Broukhim Legal PC may contact you about your inquiry by phone, text or email. Message and data rates may apply. Reply STOP to opt out of texts. Consent is not a condition of hiring the firm.
Talk to Bejan Broukhim.
Stand up to corporate negligence. Contact the firm’s mass tort team for a free, confidential case evaluation.
Broukhim Legal PC. Personal injury and mass tort litigation, led by Bejan Broukhim from downtown Los Angeles.
Our Firm
Bejan Broukhim
FAQ
Insights
Contact
Broukhim Legal PC
550 S Hill Street, Suite 1390
Los Angeles, CA 90013
Monday to Friday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM PT
Attorney advertising. This website is an advertisement by Broukhim Legal PC, 550 S Hill Street, Suite 1390, Los Angeles, CA 90013. The attorney responsible for its content is Bejan Broukhim, State Bar of California license number 183036, licensed in California. The information on this website is general information, not legal advice, and is no substitute for advice about your own situation. Contacting the firm or submitting a form does not create an attorney-client relationship, so please do not send confidential information until the firm has agreed in writing to represent you. Every case is different, and no particular result is promised or implied. Contingency fees and costs: no attorney fee is charged unless there is a recovery. Case costs, such as filing fees, records and expert witness fees, are separate from the fee, and whether you would be responsible for them if there is no recovery is set out in the written fee agreement you review before signing. With your written consent, the firm may associate with or refer your matter to another law firm; any division of fees is disclosed to you in writing and does not increase the total fee. Images on this website are illustrative and, other than Bejan Broukhim, do not depict clients or lawyers of the firm. If a medication or medical device is mentioned on this website, do not stop taking it or have it removed without first talking to your doctor.
© 2026 Broukhim Legal PC. All rights reserved. · Privacy Policy · Disclaimer
Tell us about your matter.
A short, confidential review. We will tell you plainly whether there is something worth pursuing.
Confidential. No obligation. Submitting does not create an attorney–client relationship.