A Civil Action Page #7

Give me a number.

I'm not negotiating with myself, Al,

throwing out numbers

you can say no to.

- You give me one.

- 8 million.

He said 8 million?

8 million.

I can't go to the families

with that.

Wait! What? Who? What families?

I can't go to them empty-handed.

What are you talking about?

Since when is that empty-handed?

8 million is a lot of money!

I owe them more than that.

What do you owe them?

Do you owe them your career?

You're talking

about our careers here!

- You owe them that?

- And OUR families!

That's what we're talking here.

Our families...

Don't do it.

Don't go for broke on this one.

It isn't worth it, Jan.

Nobody calls any more?

Not even the creditors.

Are the phones still working?

Schlichtmann, Conway and Crowley.

Just a moment, please.

Someone named Grendan.

Creditor.

- Are you here?

- Do I look like I'm here?

He's in a meeting at the moment.

Do me a favour, Gordon? Shut up.

What?

I'm tired of hearing you

moan about money.

This isn't about money any more.

No? What's it about?

What's it about, Jan?

- Look, let's all...

- No, I want to know.

I want to know what I gave up

my house for - my credit, my life!

Would you take 10 million?

- Yes.

- But not eight?

No.

So 10 million

is some mythic struggle,

but eight is just another lawsuit!

If they're willing to pay eight

then it's not enough.

- That makes sense!

- It makes perfect sense.

So you'll only accept

what they won't give us?

Listen to yourself!

I'm sick of listening to you.

I've lost enough because of you.

You'd have nothing but for me.

All you have, I got for you!

I don't have anything!

What do I have?

I got a couple of bucks

and some bus transfers.

I've got a savings account

from when I was 12.

Here - there's 37 in here.

With interest after 25 years,

probably 47!

Take it! Add it to the war chest.

Use it to fight injustice!

Go down in flames with it

for all I care.

Only next time...

Next time - that's a laugh!

Ask us if we want

to go down with you!

I'd like to leave a message

for AI Eustis, please.

I've been informed that a settlement

agreement has been reached.

As a condition of this agreement,

the exact terms shall remain

private among the parties involved.

Thank you for your service...

Our contingency fee,

as you know, as you agreed to -

or 2.2 million.

Our expenses - what we actually

paid out trying this case -

comes to 3.5 million.

and dividing it equally,

comes out to 375,000 per family.

And they're

gonna clean the place up?

No.

When you first came out here,

Mr Schlichtmann,

when we first spoke, I told you

I wasn't interested in money.

Here it comes.

What I wanted

was an apology from someone

for what they did to my son.

And you said, money is the apology.

That's how they apologise -

with their chequebooks.

Would you call this an apology?

No.

The only meaningful apology

you're going to get is from me.

I'm sorry.

I'm afraid that isn't meaningful.

Mrs Anderson, you're looking

at four guys who are broke.

We lost everything trying this case.

How can you even begin

to compare what you've lost

to what we've lost?

Listen, the minute you put money

on the table, things turn ugly.

It happens every time. Forget it.

But she's right.

She's not right.

It's cold. It's wet. We're

in the swamp. I want to go home.

Someone out here saw what happened.

You can't do what Riley did

without somebody seeing it.

You're talking about the case.

The case is over.

Yeah, I know. They want out, right?

It's time they went

their separate way.

You know what I think of that?

Fine. Let 'em.

- I can imagine worse things.

- Like what?

So what if we have to start over?

We did it once.

We can do it again, the two of us.

Oh, I see. When you say it's over,

you mean it's over.

It's time for me

to go my separate way.

You always went

your separate way, Jan.

Thank you.

This is how silicone is

put on leather to waterproof it.

Like you poured water on my table.

Yeah.

So some of it must

spill off the leather,

Iike the water

spilling off my table.

That's the part I'm interested in.

The spilled silicone

and trichlorethylene, sir -

how you disposed of that.

We're just here

to look at your records.

I didn't call him, he just came.

- You just let him in?

- Of course I did.

You know how sometimes

you get so close to something

that you lose sight of it?

I kept looking for someone

who saw Riley dumping

barrels of poison, when l...

I should've been looking for someone

who helped him clean it up.

Why did you rent two dump trucks

and a front loader in October '81?

Or is this just

part of your job at the tannery?

- Mr Granger?

- I don't have to talk to you.

I can tell you to leave

and I'd be within my rights.

Yes, you would.

In the fall of 1981, Mr Riley

instructed me to rent a loader

and two 10-wheel dump trucks.

- Did he tell you why?

- Yes, he did.

Everything goes. I don't want

to see anything but topsoil.

Didn't it seem strange

that he had to get rid of it now?

I don't want to know where.

Just take it.

He told me city inspectors

were coming.

He didn't want them to see it.

This went on for several nights.

Fill the trucks, trucks drive off,

trucks come back empty,

we fill them up again.

On the last night...

On the last night, what?

Are you sure you didn't

see some kids there?

- Lighting fires, drinking beers?

- I've nothing to say.

It'd be hard to forget.

You know, it's a...

Apparently, it was quite a sight.

Go, go, go.

Watch out!

This is private property!

You little punks!

That's you!

You know, mister, I'm sorry.

Here's something to make up for it.

There you go! There - fry!

I'll have you arrested!

It's like that now!

You want some of that? Eat it!

Let's go! Let's go!

- Get the f*** out!

- Come on.

Did Riley threaten you at all

with what might happen to you

if you ever came forward?

No, sir.

He didn't say anything

at all in this regard?

He gave me

a couple of Celtics tickets.

Told me to keep my mouth shut.

The appeals process

is even more Byzantine

than the trial it's appealing.

It takes longer, it costs more,

its outcome is even less promising.

Only five cases in 50

will win in appeals court,

odds as easy to calculate

as they are discouraging.

They're 10 to 1 against.

Just about any bet at any table

in any casino

anywhere in the world...

is better than that.

I have the evidence but not the

resources or the gambling spirit

to appeal the decision in this case.

I have no money, no partners,

and, it seems, no clients any more.

The Woburn case has become what it

was when it first came to me -

an orphan.

I'm forwarding it on to you,

knowing you may not want it

any more than I did at first.

If you do decide to take it on,

I hope you'll be able to succeed

where I've failed.

If you calculate success

and failure as I always have,

in money divided neatly

into human suffering,

the arithmetic says...

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