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COMING IN FALL 2010 ...
 A
Civil Action stars two-time Academy Award®
nominee John Travolta (Saturday Night Fever, Pulp Fiction) as
Boston personal injury attorney Jan Schlichtmann who brought the first
(somewhat) successful toxic tort suit in U.S. history against corporate giants
W.R. Grace and
Beatrice Foods on behalf of the residents of Woburn, Massachusetts.
The suit alleged that Grace and Beatrice subsidiaries operating in Woburn had
contaminated the groundwater that fed into a portion of the city's drinking
water system. The area became one of the first
Superfund
sites and remains on the
EPA's Superfund National Priorities List. Based on Jonathan Harr's
truly outstanding
book, for which plaintiffs' and defense counsel gave Harr virtually
unrestricted access on the condition that he not publish his work until after
limitations had run on all possible claims and appeals, A Civil Action
provides
remarkable insights into the civil litigation process -- from the first
meeting between Schlichtmann and potential plaintiffs to the final resolution of
the civil suit. While the movie, directed by Academy Award®-winning
screenwriter Steven Zaillian (Schindler's List, Awakenings), does
not live up to the National Book Critics Circle Award®-winning
book, which has been required reading in first-year civil procedure courses at
law schools across the country since its publication in 1995, it is still worth
watching. Travolta gives an uncharacteristically nuanced portrayal of
Schlichtmann. Academy Award®
winner and five-time Academy Award®
nominee Robert Duvall (The Godfather, Tender Mercies),
nominated for Best Supporting Actor for this film, plays
Jerome Facher, a partner with Hale & Dorr (now
Wilmer Hale)
and lead counsel for Beatrice. Bruce Norris (The Sixth Sense) plays
William Cheeseman, a partner with
Foley, Hoag &
Eliot and lead counsel for W.R. Grace. Two-time Academy Award®
nominee John Lithgow (The World According to Garp, 3rd Rock from the
Sun) plays U.S. District
Judge Walter J. Skinner. The supporting cast also includes Academy
Award® nominee William H. Macy (Fargo,
State and Main), Emmy® and
Golden Globe® winner Tony Shalhoub (Monk,
The Man Who Wasn't There), and Emmy®
winner Zeljko Ivanek (Damages, 24), Academy Award®
nominee Kathleen Quinlan (Apollo 13, Family Law), three-time Emmy®
winner James Gandolfini (The Sopranos, Get Shorty), Emmy®
nominee Dan Hedaya (Cheers, The First Wives' Club), and the late Academy
Award®-winning
director/producer/actor Sydney Pollack (Out of Africa, Michael Clayton).
Discussion Leaders: Professors Jean
Sternlight and Bret Birdsong
Stay tuned ...
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