A Civil Action (Paperback)

~ (Author) "The lawyer Jan Schlichtmann was awakened by the telephone at eight-thirty on a Saturday morning in mid-July..." (more)
Key Phrases: hotel fire case, tannery property, tannery sludge, Civil Action, Judge Skinner, Uncle Pete (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In America, when somebody does you wrong, you take 'em to court. W. R. Grace and Beatrice Foods had been dumping a cancer-causing industrial solvent into the water table of Woburn, Massachusetts, for years; in 1981, the families of eight leukemia victims sued. However, A Civil Action demonstrates powerfully that--even with the families' hotshot lawyers and the evidence on their side--justice is elusive, particularly when it involves malfeasance by megacorporations. Much of the legal infighting can cause the eyes to glaze. But the story is saved by great characters: the flawed, flamboyant Jan Schlichtmann and his group of bulldogs for the prosecution; Jerome Facher, the enigmatic lawyer for Beatrice, who proves to be more than a match; John J. Riley, the duplicitous, porcine tannery owner; and a host of others. It's impossible not to feel the drama of this methodical book, impossible not to grieve for the parents who lost children, and impossible not to share Schlichtmann's desperation as he runs out of money. A Civil Action reads like one long advertisement for a few well-placed Molotov cocktails. (But that wouldn't make for a very long book, now would it?)

From Publishers Weekly

This tale of a somewhat quixotic quest by an idealistic young lawyer concerns his efforts to secure damages from two corporate giants, Beatrice Foods and W.R. Grace, for allegedly polluting the water in Woburn, Mass., a Boston suburb, with carcinogens. Jan Schlichtmann had hoped that a victory would send a message to the boardrooms of America and felt that the cluster of leukemia victims in Woburn (the disease had claimed the lives of at least six children) guaranteed his success. But he reckoned without certain developments: first, the case went to a federal court, a less sympathetic venue for damage suits than state courts; second, the trial judge appears to have been unsympathetic to his case; third, at least one of the defense witnesses lied; four, defense attorneys evidently failed to deliver all relevant documents to Schlichtmann's team. The case against Beatrice was thrown out, and the plaintiffs accepted a settlement of $8 million from Grace. Personally bankrupt, Schlichtmann considered himself a failure. Former New England Monthly staffer Harr has told the story expertly, although more exhaustively than most readers may wish. Author tour; movie rights to Disney.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 502 pages
• Publisher: Vintage; First Edition edition (August 27, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679772677
• ISBN-13: 978-0679772675
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (347 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #6,518 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sad, intriguing, too common, August 2, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: A Civil Action (Hardcover)

This book centers around a town in a county prosperous in technology.Middlesex county was a hub of activity in the early 1960s and the synchrony of events precipitated by the introduction of this book in 1995 is curious. In 1995 Whitey Bulger disappeared with that convoluted case ensuing a tragedy for all parties involved. Whitey is said to have had a girlfriend in the area and many FBI agents in this case hail from the area. George Cashman, head of Teamsters Local 25 has been a Woburn resident. Cashman has been supportive of former governor (and now Ambassador) Paul Cellucci. In addition to FBI agents, there are undoubtedly many agencies represented as family members in the strata of constituents of Middlesex county.

In this case you have 2-3 companies held accountable. The only company which admitted a measure of responsibility in the tragedy is Grace. In the region there may have been 60-100 firms doing business with varying levels of dumping going on at a time predating EPA and RCRA ( establishing EPA) and that dumping was legal. Part of the problem in this case might have been a confusion over regulatory oversight. The Slichter Act empowered the state to intervene in matters of public safety.The Slichter Act was formed in the late 1940s in the wake of Mob violence breaking up a strike.

The problem with Grace is that it has repeatedly been involved with environmental controversies.

What would have happened if a company had dumped legally but later openly admitted that it had done so and began the process of cleanup and making ammends? Sometimes telling the truth engenders as much punishment as not telling the truth. Under these circumstances, why would anyone come forward?

Why does chemical irresponsibility occur at all... are the disposal costs in removal and employee time in properly resolving the disposal that injurious to the bottom line? Don't most of us also share in environmental lapses? If you have ever changed your car's oil or antifreeze, most likely you have polluted inadvertently as the fluid hits the ground.

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Postscript, April 23, 2002

By A Customer

WR Grace hailed TIAA-CREF,the academic world's largest private pension fund and a majority shareholder in Grace. On the board were also Alan Fiers of the CIA and Zbignew Brezinski, former NSA chief as well as Peter Lynch of Fidelity Investments.

Jan Schlictmann has lost most if not all of any proceeds from this case to Cadle Co. after the Boston Trade Bank failed.

Grace is/was a company very politically connected who hired former government officials, such as from EPA or OSHA,etc.

Many more families than just the ones in this case were affected, including families from the Woburn/Burlington side.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Who's got the money?, August 5, 2000

By A Customer

Woburn was a city which voluntarily refused MDC water in place of water. When it finally decided to accept MDC water extensions the funds were commingled with school funds. Colonel Ribbs was in charge of the state public works commission and the MDC was mired in controversy surrounding the conviction of four involved with the MDC, including a John F. Kennedy. In examining this case one might wonder if the city of Woburn was a decoy for the Houston space center during the cold war.