A Civil Action, by Jonathan Harr, describes the true story of a lawsuit filed by several families in the city of Woburn, Massachusetts against two large corporations, Beatrice Foods and W.R. Grace. The book describes the trial mainly through the eyes of prosecuting attorney, Jan Schlichtmann, and his attempt to prove the two companies are responsible for polluting the drinking water of the town, which may have caused leukemia in several of the towns children. After reading this book I was able to see how the basic court procedures of a lawsuit occur, what factors determine the outcome of a lawsuit, and a few lessons in courtroom strategy.
A Civil Action follows a civil lawsuit through all the procedures of the litigation, much of which we have learned of and discussed in class. The plaintiffs complaint involves several families who claim W.R. Grace and Beatrice foods are responsible for the dumping of a chemical known as trichloroethylene, and the companies malfeasance is responsible for polluting the drinking water of the town, which has caused leukemia and death in the children of these families. The defendants answer by denying all the allegations, and ask for a motion to dismiss. The judge denies the motion to dismiss and the trial continues. During the pretrial discovery depositons and interrogatories are taken. During this part of the trial Schlichtmann and his associates try to find any employees involved in the dumping of chemicals, and both sides of the lawsuit can get an idea of how the trial will take place, or how the testimony of these witnesses will effect the outcome of the trial. In my opinion, Schlichtmann wants to use emotion as a factor in winning the case, whereas the defense attorneys Faucher and Cheeseman want to leave emotion and sympathy out of the case and base it purely on facts and evidence. The trial follows and both sides present their cases. One thing I found interesting was the judges decision to allow a motion for a directed verdict based on three questions asked to the jury.