A Civil Action
- PG-13
- Year:
- 1998
- 115 min
- 5,833 Views
It's like this. A dead plaintiff
as a living,
severely maimed plaintiff.
However, if it's a long,
agonising death,
as opposed to a quick drowning
or car wreck,
the value can rise considerably.
A dead adult in his 20s is worth less
than a middle-aged one,
a dead woman less than a dead man,
single adults less than married,
black less than white,
poor less than rich.
But the perfect victim
is a white, male, professional -
40 years old, at the height
of his earning power,
struck down in his prime.
And the most imperfect?
Well, in the calculus
a dead child is worth least of all.
A million dollars he turns down.
- One million dollars!
- I don't believe their story.
- It's true.
- Come on!
- Hey, Eddie. How you doing?
- Good.
Do me a favour - shut the f*** up.
Jan refused a million.
- Sorry.
- Yeah.
A**hole.
How's your head? Up?
How's that? OK?
Are you comfortable?
Open?
Here we go.
All rise.
This court is now in session.
The Honourable
Constance Mullen presiding.
Would you like some water?
Carney versus Massachusetts
General Hospital -
case number 812725.
Attorneys,
please state your appearance.
Randolph Woodside, Mass General.
Greg Monk,
Massachusetts General Hospital.
Harold Peshniak, Mass General.
Jan Schlichtmann for Paul Carney.
Kevin Conway for Mr Carney,
Your Honour.
Mr Schlichtmann, we're ready
for your opening statement.
Your Honour,
if it please the court,
the parties involved
have agreed to a settlement.
Personal injury law
has a bad reputation.
They call us ambulance chasers,
bottom feeders,
vultures preying on
the misfortunes of others.
If that's true, why do I lie awake
worrying about my clients?
Why is their pain my pain?
I wish I didn't empathise.
It'd be a lot easier.
We're speaking to Jan Schlichtmann,
personal injury attorney
and according to Boston magazine -
have you seen this? -
one of Boston's
ten most eligible bachelors.
Let's go back to the phones. Woburn,
you're on the air.
Mr Schlichtmann,
it's Anne Anderson.
- Hello.
- How are you?
Very well. You? Sounds pretty.
How come you never call me?
- If I had your number, I would.
- You have it.
- I do?
- You have no idea who I am?
- Is this Ricky?
- No.
You see, my son died of leukaemia
two years ago.
- Your firm is handling the case.
- We are?
The reason I'm calling you here
is because my calls to your offices
have gone unreturned for weeks.
- Sorry, your name was?
- Anne.
- Anne...
- Anderson.
I'm writing that down.
I'm gonna take care of this.
Why don't you come up to Woburn
and actually meet a few of those
people whose pain is your pain?
Let me picture this.
She called you, she cried.
You felt sorry and you cried.
- Now she's mad.
- It's a good case.
- She's not crying now!
- An orphan, but good.
leukaemia - eight of them children.
- That's unusual?
- Statistically. It's a small town.
She lost a child?
They think it's something to do
with the city's drinking water
which they say tastes funny.
What was she like before?
- Do want to hear what it's about?
- No, I don't!
I'd like to hear about it.
Thank you, Kathy.
There's a report here
from state inspectors
saying that the water
from two city wells
is contaminated - or was
before they shut them down -
with something called...
I can't pronounce this...
trichlorethylene...ethylene,
which the EPA lists
as a probable carcinogen.
- Stop.
- There's more.
No, from a financial standpoint,
this is not a sound investment.
Probable is a euphemism
for unproven.
you need new medical research.
Is that our business -
medical research?
And...and ask yourself,
why is this an orphan?
It's been kicked around
before ending up on your desk.
Gordon's right.
I can appreciate
the theatrical value of dead kids.
That's good. But that's all it has
going for it, and it's not enough.
I'll get rid of it.
I'll...just go up there and...
You'll both start to cry again,
she'll be mad at me.
I'll do it. I'll get rid of it.
Give it to me.
Thank you.
- There you go, sir.
- Thank you.
- Drive careful.
- Yeah.
When I stand on my porch,
I can see the houses
where children died.
These are the Kanes,
the Toomeys, the Zohners,
the Robbins and the Aufieros.
Now, I want to be clear.
I'm not interested in money -
none of us are.
What we want is to know what
happened. And we want an apology.
- From who?
- Whoever did this.
I want somebody to come and say,
"We're responsible.
"We didn't mean it,
but we're sorry."
But who is that?
Well, we don't know.
Mrs Anderson, our firm is
very small, just three attorneys.
We can only take
so many cases at once
and we have to be choosy because,
frankly, we can't afford to lose.
We pay everything. We only get paid
if we win or settle.
- I know.
- You want an apology.
And I'd love to get you
that apology, but from who?
Who is going to apologise to you and
pay me?
There has to be a defendant
with very deep pockets.
This is not
an inexpensive case to try.
There's an old tannery out there.
A tannery?
And some other small factories.
I really wish I could help you
but I can't. I'm sorry.
Maybe you could go out to
the river, to the wells, and look.
For what?
What would that accomplish?
I do hope you find someone.
And I am sorry.
- Thank you very much.
- Drive carefully.
It was fate.
I was meant to get that ticket,
at that moment, at that exact spot.
Do you know who Beatrice is?
Peter Pan peanut butter,
Tropicana orange juice,
Rosarita Mexican Food,
Swiss Miss cocoa, Samsonite
luggage... The list goes on!
- And the other one?
- W.R. Grace.
Chemical plants in two dozen states,
South America, Europe and Japan.
- What's this?
- The ticket.
No, I've got that right here.
- I got two speeding tickets.
- A two-ticket town?
Exactly.
Don't take your Caddie there.
Kevin, it's a gold mine.
You almost let it get away.
I almost let it get away.
Lawsuits are war -
it's as simple as that.
And they begin the same way,
with a declaration of war -
the complaint.
When you're a small firm
and they're big,
steeped in history and wealth,
with Persian carpets on the floor
and Harvard diplomas on the walls,
it's easy to be intimidated.
Don't - that's what they want.
That's what they expect,
like all bullies.
That's how they win.
I don't run away from bullies.
Mr Facher...
Mr Doyle asked
me to bring this to you.
When?
- When did he ask me?
- Yeah.
Just now.
On your lunch break?
I almost never go to lunch, sir.
Too much to do.
I just grab something.
You know, I'd make a point
of taking an hour or so
away from all the noise
and insanity.
I should do that.
I'd find a place that was
relatively quiet and peaceful,
have a sandwich, read a magazine.
Maybe listen to a game
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