Civil Action Film Analysis

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This essay will examine controversial legal issues that were expressed in the films “Civil Action” and “The Insider” which were both based on actual, real life legal controversies. This essay will also examine how these particular legal issues relate to the U.S. legal system in general. These two particular legal issues are very similar the each other in terms of the maze of legalities that were involved in trying to find a satisfactory legal resolution for these situations. The film “Civil Action” was about the real life legal controversy regarding the dumping of toxic chemicals by a tannery company that seeped in the nearby Woburn, Massachusetts town’s water supply contaminating it. As a result, numerous families in the town lost children to various forms of cancer due to the …show more content…

In the United States, environmental law can be difficult at times to sue for because in this modern day society with automobiles, technology, and factories, and as a result there is a high degree of pollution in the atmosphere that we all have to deal and it can be difficult to prove that these companies intentionally and/or if it was that specific company that has been accused of polluting certain areas that are residential in nature. The film of course deals with the United States common law legal system in the form of a civil lawsuit and the legal themes and concepts the film deals with revolve around the issues and complexities of environmental law. The plaintiffs in the case led by personal injury attorney Jan Schlichtmann which consisted of the affected families presented their case in federal court in the form of a class action lawsuit against the defendants which consisted of a tannery under the operation of the Beatrice and W.R. Grace companies. As was mentioned before, a big issue in the film were the difficulties the plaintiffs

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