Civil Action

This is a truly difficult book to read. The injustice within the justice system, particularly in this civil case regarding the presiding judge, is truly staggering.

The judge seemed to squash every single attempt to rectify the wrongs. He gave the water polluters free reign to continue their despicable act of polluting. However, hope emerged when the EPA arrived on the scene.

They swiftly swept the judge's inane verdict aside, stating that their own investigation had provided them with all the evidence they required. And just like that, they shut the polluters down. It is remarkable how what the courts could or would not do, the Environmental Protection Agency accomplished in a mere finger snap.

Interestingly, there is a movie based on this book, with the talented John Travolta in a starring role. This movie further brings the story to life and allows a wider audience to become aware of the events and the importance of environmental protection.

This book intrigued me for two reasons. Firstly, I have a great interest in learning about the work of Erin Brockovich, and this book seemed to have a similar premise. Secondly, my cousin was reading it for her Business Law class, so I thought it would be a great topic for us to discuss over Thanksgiving.

However, while option #2 is still a possibility, I would not recommend this book to those who had the same expectations as I did with option #1. The main reason for this is that the book places a strong emphasis on the court case to prove that two large companies polluted the water supply of East Woburn, Mass. in the 1960s. The prosecuting lawyer blames the contaminated water for the higher frequencies of leukemia and other diseases in the East Woburn population. However, so many pages are dedicated to the question of how the water got polluted that the sick children seem to be an afterthought.

I can understand why this book was recommended reading in the high school Business Law class. The author frequently emphasizes the toll this case took on the prosecuting law firm. Their lawyer had to take on the representatives of big businesses with deep pockets who could afford to hire tough lawyers to make the prosecutors go away. As the case dragged on for months, the prosecutors had to put up their houses as collateral, their cars were repossessed, their life savings were wiped out, and spare change became the difference between walking or taking the bus to work, or eating a hot meal or cold cuts. While the author focuses on the prosecution's claim, he does not leave out the perspective of the companies, although the bias is clearly in favor of the prosecution.

Overall, I would have preferred the book to focus more on the medical case and less on the contamination charge against the two factories. However, I suppose the author could only follow what happened in real life, and the contamination case was what took up a lot of time and money.

\n  Litigation – A machine which you go into as a pig and come out of as a sausage.\n
Ambrose Bierce

I came across this book early in my legal career, perhaps around 20 years ago. It presents a captivating and relatively suspenseful account of a modern-day tragedy that offers an authentic perspective on civil litigation, especially in the federal courts.

In the 1980s, in Woburn, Massachusetts (not far from Boston), a cluster of leukemia cases emerged. The families of the leukemia victims engaged the services of a small Boston law firm (consisting of 3/4 attorneys) to investigate what they suspected was the pollution of their water supply by a local tannery owned by Beatrice Foods and the chemical company W.R. Grace. The law firm enlisted experts who discovered high concentrations of trichloroethylene (TCE) in the Woburn water supply. TCE is a chemical commonly used in production processes and is known to be a possible cause of cancer. The firm also located a witness who worked at the tannery and was willing to testify that he had participated in removing sludge from the tannery's site and dumping it into a nearby stream over several years. The plaintiffs and their "David" firm were prepared to present their case to the jury with all their sick plaintiffs.

However, the defendants' counsel (from prestigious Boston firms) convinced the judge to bifurcate the trial. In this bifurcated trial, the issue of causation was presented to the jury first. The jury would determine if, based on a preponderance of the evidence, the defendants' pollution "proximately caused" the leukemia cases. If so, the parties would then present evidence to the same jury regarding the damages suffered by the plaintiffs. If not, the case would be over. In the first phase of the trial (on causation), the parties were prohibited from presenting any evidence of the plaintiffs' damages. This means that the jury deciding causation would not hear from the harmed plaintiffs or learn anything about any damages or suffering until the second phase of the trial. Such an outcome can be devastating for plaintiffs who rely on the jury being influenced by human nature to err on the side of caution regarding the causation issue due to the obvious and severe effects of leukemia on its victims and their families.

In a lawsuit involving environmental contamination (or medical malpractice or products liability), the expenses for experts can quickly skyrocket. The experts play a crucial role in proving that the act (contamination) actually caused the leukemia (or damage or injuries). They must be hired early to overcome motions to dismiss the case from court.

As a result of these high costs, relatively few law firms handle such cases. Small law firms cannot afford to front the expenses and risk being left with the bill if the case fails before reaching a jury. In many ways, this serves as a natural filter. If these few dozen law firms all decline a case, it is likely that the case would be dismissed for various reasons or is not worth the expenses in terms of potential recovery. Conversely, if one of these firms takes on your case, there is a reasonable chance that the defendants will pay some money – after years of litigation.

There are occasions, however, when a small law firm with a large ego, like the one in this book, decides to take on Goliath in one of these expert-intensive and expensive cases. Of those, the results are often tragic. Only one in 50,000 might be able to succeed all the way.

Mr. Harr's portrayal is engaging in an area – high-stakes civil litigation of environmental causation – that can be extremely dull. Many people do not realize that 95% of the work in a civil lawsuit occurs before the parties even appear before a jury. This 95% mainly consists of arguing motion after motion, some lawyers using sophistry and word games in response to discovery questions, battles over which party should produce which documents, lengthy and often complex written legal memoranda presented to the judge, mediation, and lengthy depositions of the parties, witnesses, and experts, often taking place in different parts of the country, among other things.

In summary, the author was able to condense years of litigation into a compelling story about a lawyer (albeit a bit too prideful) in a small law firm who took on Fortune 500 companies and their legions of lawyers on behalf of the poor Woburn residents and lost everything.

Highly recommended if you are interested in civil litigation or environmental contamination.

This book was given to me by Margaret.

At times, I found the legal intricacies within it rather difficult to follow. However, it provided a truly fascinating insight into the legal system in the U.S.

It showed how a bad judge and the influence of money can distort the ability to achieve justice.

Currently, I'm watching the movie adaptation, which is equally excellent.

The movie manages to bring the story to life in a different medium, highlighting the same important themes.

It's interesting to see how the filmmakers have interpreted the book and presented it on the screen.

Both the book and the movie offer valuable perspectives on the legal system and the challenges it faces.

They make me think about the importance of fairness and integrity in the pursuit of justice.

Overall, it's been a great experience exploring this story through both the written word and the visual medium of film.

This was an absolutely great read.

It is a true story that revolves around a lawsuit filed against two companies that were accused of polluting the local water supply in a suburb of Boston. The consequences of this pollution were tragic, as several children unfortunately died of leukemia.

The author had a unique perspective as he was behind the scenes with the lawyers throughout the entire trial and its aftermath. This allowed him to provide an extremely detailed view of the entire case, leaving no stone unturned.

The story was so engrossing and engaging that I simply couldn't put it down. It held my attention from start to finish, and I was completely invested in the outcome of the lawsuit and the fate of those affected by the pollution.

Overall, it was a remarkable and thought-provoking piece that shed light on an important issue and the legal process involved in seeking justice.

One often wonders at the state of our health and that of our children.

It is truly astonishing to think that in the case of the first child diagnosed with Leukemia, the mother failed to suspect the water as the possible culprit of the illness. The foreshadowing presented in the situation clearly indicates that there is something seriously amiss with the water supply.

This whole scenario is really thought-provoking, and the research conducted appears to be impeccable. The author's approach of introducing the various characters is quite engaging. We are able to zoom in on several different houses within a given neighborhood, which provides a more comprehensive understanding of the situation.

It makes one reflect on the importance of being vigilant about the quality of our environment, especially when it comes to the substances that we come into contact with on a daily basis.

Perhaps if the mother had been more observant or had access to more information, the illness of her child could have been prevented or at least diagnosed earlier.

This serves as a reminder that we should all take a closer look at the potential sources of danger in our surroundings and take appropriate measures to protect ourselves and our loved ones.

The situation in Woburn would have been a completely different story if it had occurred 30 years later.

If they had given those kids Gleevec, it would have solved their problems in an instant. I truly love modern medicine. Gleevec, please sponsor me.

This book was simply great. It was physically painful to stop reading once I reached the last approximately 100 pages. I've never been more invested in my life. It is truly crazy how the author managed to get me to care so deeply about a lawsuit from the 80s.

As a frugal person, I wanted to die every time there was a part about how seriously in debt Schlictmann and his associates were, but I think that just goes to show that the author did an outstanding job of making me care.

If you have a penchant for drama, lawsuits, debt, health problems, toxic chemicals, and/or the Ritz-Carlton, then I have the perfect book for you.

What do large companies like WR Grace & Beatrice prioritize more: profit or the potential harm their products cause to people? This book (and the subsequent movie) vividly portrays a lawyer engaged in a seemingly losing battle, regardless of the personal consequences that befall him. There are indeed parts that are difficult to read, yet the overall work is truly great.

You simply must see the movie! The cast includes renowned actors such as John Travolta, Robert Duvall, and William Macy.

The ending quotes from the movie provide some crucial insights. Judge Skinner found that John Riley deliberately concealed evidence at the trial, and his tannery was torn down in 1990. W.R. Grace was indicted by the Grand Jury for making false statements regarding its use of chemicals like TCE, acetone, and toluene. The company pleaded no contest to the acetone charge, and its Woburn, MA plant closed in 1990.

Facing the prospect of returning to court, the two companies (WR Grace & Beatice) finally agreed to pay their share of the whopping 69.4 million dollars in cleanup costs, which was the largest and most expensive project of its kind in New England history. It took Jan Schlichtmann several years to settle his debts, but he fell off Boston's Ten Most Eligible Bachelors list in just one year.

The images of Jan Schlichtmann, the lawyer character in the book, and the movie poster add to the overall allure and intrigue of this captivating story. The links provided, such as the NYT review, IMDb credit, and YouTube movie trailer, offer further opportunities for exploration and a deeper understanding of this remarkable work.