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Film Story
Environmental toxins in the city of Woburn, Massachusettscontaminate the area's water supply, and become linked to a number of deaths ofneighboring children. Jan Schlichtmann (John Travolta), a cocky and successful Boston attorney who zips around town in his Porsche, andhis small firm of personal injury lawyers are asked by Woburn resident Anne Anderson (KathleenQuinlan) to take legal action against those responsible.
After originally rejecting a seeminglyunprofitable case, Jan finds a major environmental issue involving groundwatercontamination that has great legal potential and a couple of defendants withdeep pockets. The local tanneries could be responsible for several deadly casesof leukemia, but also are the main employers for the area. Jan decides to goforward against two giant corporations (real-life companies Beatrice Foods andW. R. Grace and Company) with links to the tanneries, thinking that the casecould possibly earn him millions, as well as enhancing his and his firm's alreadyconsiderable reputation.
Bringing a class action lawsuit in federalcourt, Jan represents families who demand a clean-up of contaminated areas andan apology. However, the case develops a life of its own and takes over thelives of Jan and his firm. The lawyers for the tanneries' parent corporationsare not easy to intimidate, a judge (John Lithgow) makes a key ruling againstthe plaintiffs, and soon Jan and his partners find themselves in a positionwhere their professional and financial survival has been staked on the outcomeof the case.
Jan stubbornly declines settlement offers,gradually coming to believe that the case is about more than just the money. Heallows his pride to take over, making outrageous demands and deciding that hemust win at all costs. Pressures take their toll, with Jan and his partnersgoing deeply into debt. After a lengthy trial, the case is dismissed in favorof Beatrice, Jan having turned down an offer of $20 million from Beatriceattorney Jerry Facher (Robert Duvall) while the jury was deliberating. Theplaintiffs are forced to accept a settlement with Grace that barely covers theexpense involved in trying the case, leaving Jan and his partners broke. Thefamilies are deeply disappointed, and Jan's partners dissolve theirpartnership, effectively breaking up the firm. Jan ends up alone, living in asmall apartment and running a small-time law practice. He manages to find thelast key witness to the case, but lacks resources and courage to appeal the judgment.The files are archived while Jan later files for bankruptcy.
In a postscript, a montage of short scenesinvolving the key characters in the film, combined with on-screen captions,reveals that the Environmental Protection Agency, building on Jan's work on thecase, later brought its own enforcement action against the offending companies,forcing them to pay millions to clean up the land and the groundwater. It takesJan several years to settle his debts, and he now practices environmental lawin Toms River, New Jersey.
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