Goddard council authorizes contingency engagement of counsel to pursue PFAS claims

The Goddard City Council voted to authorize the city administrator to execute agreements engaging plaintiffs' counsel to investigate and, if warranted, pursue claims related to PFAS in the municipal water supply.

Ryan Peck, the city attorney, described PFAS as a large family of man‑made chemicals often associated with firefighting foams and said law firms approached the city about participating in consolidated litigation. Peck told the council the first step would be sampling to determine whether the city is eligible to file a claim; if the sampling and other preliminary work indicate eligibility, the recommended firms — Stag Louisa (New Orleans) and Perry & Trent (Bonner Springs) — would represent the city on a contingent‑fee basis. "They take all of the risk on the front end," Peck said, adding the recommended contingency fee would be 33 percent and that the firms would advance testing and litigation expenses, which would typically be deducted from any recovery.

Peck emphasized that the city has not yet determined whether it is eligible to make a claim and that signing the engagement does not commit the city to expend recovered funds until council decides how to allocate any award. A council member likened the approach to the city's participation in prior national settlements (for example opioid litigation) and said joining now places the city in line for a potential share if the city later proves eligible.

Council approved a resolution authorizing the administrator to execute the engagement agreements; the motion carried unanimously. Staff said the next steps are to coordinate sampling with the firms and return with results and, as appropriate, further recommendations on participation and any uses of recovered funds.