Now i know i'm preaching mainly to the "Converted" here, but if the "Cost" is so High when things go terribly wrong, as in the case above & will continue to be for years to come, if things don't change or we don't embrace new solutions to these problems or adopt a better way of doing things, such as our exciting range of products & new technologies, sooner rather than later, then the only winners in future will remain to be Lawyers imo, So surely the "Cost" of one that is so Low on all accounts would be a "No-Brainer" to embrace sooner or later one would think ! Not to mention, "Cherry Ripe" for the "Picking" one day in the not too distant future ! If all goes to plan ? now
Anyone who's watched, like i did recently, would realise what an exciting opportunity Alexium holds, not just for Shareholder's, the Planet, but all of humanity, especially, our children & our children's children ! This is why i bought in & continue to Hold & accumulate when possible !
A Civil Action is a 1998 American drama film that was directed by
Steven Zaillian, that stars
John Travolta (as plaintiff's attorney
Jan Schlichtmann) and
Robert Duvall, and that is based on the
book of the same name by
Jonathan Harr. Both the book and the film are based on a true story of a court case about environmental pollution that took place in
Woburn,
Massachusetts, in the 1980s.
The movie and court case revolve around the issue of
trichloroethylene, an industrial solvent, and its contamination of a local aquifer. A lawsuit was filed over industrial operations that appeared to have caused fatal cases of leukemia and cancer, as well as a wide variety of other health problems, among the citizens of the town.
Environmental toxins in the city of
Woburn, Massachusetts contaminate the area's water supply, and become linked to a number of deaths of neighboring children. Jan Schlichtmann (
John Travolta), a cocky and successful Boston attorney who zips around town in his
Porsche, and his small firm of personal injury lawyers are asked by Woburn resident Anne Anderson (
Kathleen Quinlan) to take legal action against those responsible.
After originally rejecting a seemingly unprofitable case, Jan finds a major
environmental issue involving groundwater contamination that has great legal potential and a couple of defendants with deep pockets.
The local
tanneries could be responsible for several deadly cases of leukemia, but also are the main employers for the area. Jan decides to go forward against two giant corporations (real-life companies
Beatrice Foods and
W. R. Grace and Company) with links to the tanneries, thinking that the case could possibly earn him millions, as well as enhancing his and his firm's already considerable reputation.
Bringing a
class action lawsuit in federal court, Jan represents families who demand a clean-up of contaminated areas and an apology. However, the case develops a life of its own and takes over the lives of Jan and his firm. The lawyers for the tanneries' parent corporations are not easy to intimidate, a judge (
John Lithgow) makes a key ruling against the plaintiffs, and soon Jan and his partners find themselves in a position where their professional and financial survival has been staked on the outcome of the case.
Jan stubbornly declines settlement offers, gradually coming to believe that the case is about more than just the money. He allows his pride to take over, making outrageous demands and deciding that he must win at all costs. Pressures take their toll, with Jan and his partners going deeply into debt. After a lengthy trial, the case is dismissed in favor of Beatrice, Jan having turned down an offer of $20 million from Beatrice attorney Jerry Facher (
Robert Duvall) while the jury was deliberating. The plaintiffs are forced to accept a settlement with Grace that barely covers the expense involved in trying the case, leaving Jan and his partners broke. The families are deeply disappointed, and Jan's partners dissolve their partnership, effectively breaking up the firm. Jan ends up alone, living in a small apartment and running a small-time law practice. He manages to find the last key witness to the case, but lacks resources and courage to appeal the judgement. The files are archived while Jan later files for bankruptcy.
In a postscript, a montage of short scenes involving the key characters in the film, combined with on-screen captions, reveals that the
Environmental Protection Agency, building on Jan's work on the case, later brought its own enforcement action against the offending companies, forcing them to pay millions to clean up the land and the groundwater. It takes Jan several years to settle his debts, and he now practices environmental law in Boston.
And who can forget,
Erin Brockovich is a 2000
biographical film directed by
Steven Soderbergh and written by
Susannah Grant. The film is a dramatization of the true story of
Erin Brockovich, portrayed by
Julia Roberts, who fought against the energy corporation
Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E).
In 1993,
Erin Brockovich (
Julia Roberts) is an unemployed single mother of three children, who has recently been injured in a traffic accident with a doctor and is suing him. Her lawyer,
Ed Masry (
Albert Finney), expects to win, but Erin's explosive courtroom behavior under
cross-examination loses her the case, and Ed will not return her phone calls afterwards. One day, he arrives at work to find her in the office, apparently working. She says that he told her things would work out and they did not, and that she needed a job. Ed takes pity on Erin, and she gets a paid job at the office.
Erin is given files for a real-estate case where the
Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is offering to purchase the home of Donna Jensen, a resident of
Hinkley, California. Erin is surprised to see medical records in the file and visits Donna, who explains that she had simply kept all her PG&E correspondence together. Donna appreciates PG&E's help: she has had several tumors and her husband has
Hodgkin's lymphoma, but PG&E has always supplied a doctor at their own expense. Erin asks why they would do that, and Donna replies, "because of the chromium". Erin begins digging into the case and finds evidence that the groundwater in Hinkley is seriously contaminated with carcinogenic
hexavalent chromium, but PG&E has been telling Hinkley residents that they use a safer form of chromium. After several days away from the office doing this research, she is fired by Ed until he realizes that she was working all the time, and sees what she has found out.
Rehired, she continues her research, and over time, visits many Hinkley residents and wins their trust.
She finds many cases of tumors and other medical problems in Hinkley. Everyone has been treated by PG&E's doctors and thinks the cluster of cases is just a coincidence, unrelated to the "safe" chromium. The Jensens' claim for compensation grows into a major
class action lawsuit, but the direct evidence only relates to PG&E's Hinkley plant, not to the senior management.
Knowing that PG&E could slow any settlement for years through delays and appeals, Ed takes the opportunity to arrange for disposition by binding arbitration, but a large majority of the plaintiffs must agree to this. Erin returns to Hinkley and persuades all 634 plaintiffs to go along. While she is there, a man named Charles Embry approaches her to say that he and his cousin were PG&E employees, but his cousin recently died from the poison. The man says he was tasked with destroying documents at PG&E, but, "as it turns out," he "wasn't a very good employee".
Embry gives Erin the documents, which include a 1966 memo proving corporate headquarters knew the water was contaminated with hexavalent chromium, did nothing about it, and advised the Hinkley operation to keep this secret. The judge orders PG&E to pay a settlement amount of $333 million to be distributed among the plaintiffs.
In the aftermath, Ed hands Erin her bonus payment for the case but warns her he has changed the amount. She explodes into a complaint that she deserves more respect, but is astonished to find that he has increased it—to $2 million.
Sometimes it "Pays dividends" to have a woman or women on your Team !
Cheers
Franky Boy
