A Civil Action is a 1998 American legal drama film directed and written by Steven Zaillian and starring John Travolta with Robert Duvall, James Gandolfini, Dan Hedaya, John Lithgow, William H. Macy, Kathleen Quinlan, and Tony Shalhoub. Based on the 1995 book of the same name by Jonathan Harr, it tells the true story of a court case about environmental pollution that took place in Woburn, Massachusetts in the 1980s. The film and court case revolve around the issue of trichloroethylene, an industrial solvent, and its contamination of a local aquifer. A lawsuit was filed over industrial operations that appeared to have caused fatal cases of leukemia and cancer, as well as a wide variety of other health problems, among the citizens of the city. The case involved is Anne Anderson, et al., v. Cryovac, Inc., et al.. The first reported decision in the case is at 96 F.R.D. 431. Duvall was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance.
Wayne Budd is senior counsel at Goodwin Procter, in the firm's Litigation Department, where he specializes in advising clients on business and commercial litigation matters. Past senior executive vice president and general counsel, U.S., of John Hancock Financial Services, Inc., a division of Manulife Financial. He was responsible for directing all of the company's legal activities as well as overseeing the compliance, human resources, governmental affairs and community relations functions for the company.
The American rule is the default legal rule in the United States controlling assessment of attorneys' fees arising out of litigation. It provides that each party is responsible for paying its own attorney's fees, unless specific authority granted by statute or contract allows the assessment of those fees against the other party.
The Northeastern University School of Law (NUSL) is the law school of Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts.
Martha Mary Coakley is an American lobbyist, lawyer, and former politician who served as Attorney General of Massachusetts from 2007 to 2015. Prior to serving as Attorney General, she was District Attorney of Middlesex County from 1999 to 2007.
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, also known as Hale & Dorr and WilmerHale, is an international law firm with offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. It is co-headquartered in Washington, D.C., and Boston. It was formed in 2004 through the merger of the Boston-based firm Hale and Dorr and the Washington-based, firm Wilmer Cutler & Pickering, and employs more than 1,000 attorneys worldwide.
Sandra Lea Lynch is an American lawyer who serves as a senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. She is the first woman to serve on that court. Lynch served as chief judge of the First Circuit from 2008 to 2015.
The Office of the Missouri Attorney General was created in 1806 when Missouri was part of the Louisiana Territory. Missouri's first Constitution in 1820 provided for an appointed attorney general, but since the 1865 Constitution, the Attorney General has been elected. As of January 2023, there have been 44 attorneys general in Missouri.
William F. Lee is an American intellectual property and commercial litigation trial attorney. As co-managing partner of WilmerHale, Lee was the first Asian-American to lead a major American law firm. He is also a Senior Fellow of the Harvard Corporation, the governing board of Harvard University.
The New York City Law Department, also known as the Office of the Corporation Counsel, is the department of the government of New York City responsible for most of the city's legal affairs. The department is headed by the Corporation Counsel, currently Sylvia Hinds-Radix, the 81st official to hold this position.
Foley Hoag LLP is a law firm headquartered in Boston, with additional offices in New York City, Paris, and Washington, D.C. The firm represents public and private clients in a wide range of disputes and transactions worldwide. It offers regional, national, and international legal services. Represented industries include life sciences, healthcare, technology, energy & cleantech, investment advisers & private funds, professional services and education. Foley Hoag also specializes in international litigation & arbitration, business counseling, privacy & data security, intellectual property, labor & employment, real estate & development, federal and state government strategies services, and maintains the first practice to provide advice on the role of corporations in respecting human rights.
The Sensible Marijuana Policy Initiative, also known as Massachusetts Ballot Question 2, was an initiated state statute that replaced prior criminal penalties with new civil penalties on adults possessing an ounce or less of marijuana. The initiative appeared on the November 4, 2008, ballot in Massachusetts.
Wendell Arthur Garrity Jr. was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts notable for issuing the 1974 order in Morgan v. Hennigan which mandated that Boston schools be desegregated by means of busing.
Ian Heath Gershengorn is an American lawyer and former acting Solicitor General of the United States under President Barack Obama.
A private attorney general or public interest lawyer is an informal term originating in common law jurisdictions for a private attorney who brings a lawsuit claiming it to be in the public interest, i.e., benefiting the general public and not just the plaintiff, on behalf of a citizen or group of citizens. The attorney may, at the equitable discretion of the court, be entitled to recover attorney's fees if they prevail. The rationale behind this principle is to provide extra incentive to private attorneys to pursue suits that may be of benefit to society at large. Private attorney general suits are commonly, though not always, brought as class actions in jurisdictions that permit the certification of class action lawsuits.
Allen J. McCarthy is an American lawyer and politician who represented the 7th Plymouth District in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011.
Barbara A. Lenk is an American attorney and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. On April 4, 2011, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick nominated her to that position and she was confirmed by the Governor's Council on May 4, 2011. She took the oath of office on June 8, 2011.
Marsha V. Kazarosian is an American attorney in Haverhill, Massachusetts notable for handling high-profile cases in the New England area. Her handling of a gender discrimination case involving a country club brought her national recognition. She represented one of the teenaged defendants in the 1990 murder of a young husband by his wife Pamela Smart, who conspired with her teenaged lover to murder her husband for insurance money; the story became the basis of the movie To Die For starring Nicole Kidman, and the television movie Murder in New Hampshire starring Helen Hunt. Her legal skill was the subject of a cover story entitled The Power of Marsha Kazarosian in a publication geared to the legal community.
Harold "Hank" P. Naughton Jr. is an American politician. He is a state legislator who served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1995 to 2021. He was born in Worcester, Massachusetts on July 4, 1960 and grew up in Clinton, Massachusetts, where he still resides with his wife, Ellen, and four children. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
David A. Lowy is an American attorney, academic and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts from 2016 to 2024.
