Jan Schlickmann is a cynical lawyer who goes out to 'get rid of' a case, only to find out it is potentially worth millions. The case becomes his obsession, to the extent that he is willing to give up everything—including his career and his clients' goals—in order to continue the case against all odds.
A Civil Action is a 1998 American legal drama film written and directed by Steven Zaillian, based on the 1995 nonfiction book of the same name by Jonathan Harr. The film stars John Travolta as personal injury attorney Jan Schlichtmann, with supporting performances from Robert Duvall, James Gandolfini, Dan Hedaya, John Lithgow, William H. Macy, Kathleen Quinlan, and Tony Shalhoub. The narrative dramatizes the true story of a landmark environmental lawsuit in Woburn, Massachusetts, during the 1980s, in which residents alleged that industrial contamination of the local water supply—specifically with the chemical trichloroethylene—had led to multiple cases of leukemia and other serious health issues. The case, formally titled Anne Anderson, et al. v. Cryovac, Inc., et al., became one of the most high-profile toxic tort lawsuits of its time.
