The Dark Side of Our Justice System in A Civil Action by Jonathan Harr

A civil action: A legal thriller of the decade

Justice is created to investigate the truth and to provide justice to the people. Yet, truth and judicial process do not always go hand on hand. In the book, A Civil Action, the author, Jonathan Harr, portrays the dark side of our justice system. Here, Harr presents a true story of group of families that bring a civil lawsuit against two big corporations, but during the process their truth gets manipulated and proven meaningless by the tactics of judiciary procedures. Published in 1996, this is one of the best works of Harr. It is very engaging, and especially, Harr’s thorough description helps reader from any background understand the judicial proceedings of the case.

The book begins with Jan Schlicthmann, a lawyer of the Woburn families, waiting for the verdict the case. He is the main narrator of the story and his character is well portrayed from a lawyer who is at first very cynical to accept the case to the one who gives up everything for the truth and justice to the families in Woburn, who lost their children from Leukemia. Schlicthmann and his clients believe that the disease was caused by the drinking water that comes from wells G and H, which was contaminated by the chemicals disposed by Beatrice Foods and W.R Grace tannery. The story unfolds very interestingly from Schlicthmann perspective. When the case was brought to his attention, Schlicthmann refuses to advocate for the case saying that this is a political battle and not a legal battle (Harr, 1996; pg. 69). As he learns more about the case, he disregards his colleague’s suggestions and accepts the case. At first, they did not have financial resources, but with the help of his clients he finds some resources, but in ...

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...s perspective creates a lot of frustration against the judge and the justice system. Thus, Harr could have explored more on the justice system to give some relief to the readers. In the book, Harr seems to be reluctant to express his perspective about the case, or may be it is his style of writing to let the readers make their own reflections.

Although, Harr presents the story from one perspective, he gives the readers a great insight on our justice system. Throughout the book the author presents a very detail and thorough description of the characters and the events. The book is very engaging and explores various themes such as corporate social responsibility, civil lawsuit, and unfairness in the justice system. Having said that, this book could be very helpful for people from various backgrounds.

Works cited:

Harr, J. (1996). A Civil Action. Vintage books.