"It's like this." "A dead plaintiff is rarely worth as much as a living, severely maimed plaintiff." "However, if it's a long, agonizing death, as opposed to a quick drowning or car wreck, the value can rise considerably." "A dead adult in his 20s is generally worth less than one who is middle-aged, a dead woman less than a dead man, a single adult less than one who's married, black less than white, poor less than rich." "But the perfect victim is a white male professional, 40 years old, at the height of his earning power, struck down in his prime." "And the most imperfect?" "Well, in the calculus of personal injury law, a dead child is worth the least of all." "A million dollars he turns down." " One million dollars!" " I don't believe that story for a second." " It's true." " Come on!" " Hey, Eddie." "How you doing?" " Good." "Do me a favor, will you?" "Shut the fuck up." "That's our banker over there, keeping an eye on the collateral." "He doesn't know Jan turned down a million." " Sorry." " Yeah." "Asshole." "How's your head?" "Up?" "How's that?" "OK?" "Are you comfortable?" "Open?" "Here we go." "All rise." "This court is now in session." "The Honorable Constance Mullen presiding." "Would you like some water?" "Carney versus Massachusetts General Hospital - case number 812725." "Attorneys, please state your appearance." "Randolph Woodside, Mass General." "Greg Monk, Massachusetts General Hospital." "Harold Peshniak, Mass General." "Jan Schlichtmann for Paul Carney." "Kevin Conway for Mr Carney, Your Honor." "Mr Schlichtmann, the Court's ready for your opening statement." "Your Honor, if it please the court, the parties involved have agreed to a settlement." "Personal injury law has a bad reputation." "They call us ambulance chasers, bottom feeders, vultures who prey on the misfortunes of others." "If that's true, why do I lie awake worrying about my clients?" "Why does their pain become my pain?" "I wish I could find some way not to empathize." "It'd be a lot easier." "We're speaking to Jan Schlichtmann, personal injury attorney and according to Boston magazine... have you seen this?" "... one of Boston's ten most eligible bachelors." "Let's go back to the phones." "Woburn, you're on the air." "Hello, Mr Schlichtmann, it's Anne Anderson." " Hello, Anne." " How are you?" "Very well." "How are you?" "Sounds pretty." "How come you never call me?" " Believe me, if I had your number, I would call you." " You do have it." " I do?" " You have no idea who I am?" " Is this Ricky?" " No." "You see, my son died of leukemia two years ago, Mr Schlichtmann." " Your firm is handling the case." " We are?" "Uh-huh." "The reason I'm calling you here is because my calls to your offices have gone unreturned for the last several weeks now." " I'm sorry, What was your name?" " Anne." " Anne..." " Anderson." "I'm writing that down as we speak." "I'm gonna take care of this." "Hey, I have an idea..." "Why don't you come up to Woburn one of these days and actually meet a few of those people whose pain is your pain Jan?" "Let me try and picture how this happened." "She called you, she cried." "You felt sorry for her and you cried." " And now she's mad at me." "Now that makes sense." " This is a good case." " She's not crying now!" " An orphan, but a good one." "12 deaths over 15 years from leukemia - eight of them children." " Is that unusual?" " Apparently, statistically." "It's a very small town." "This woman lost a child?" "They think it has something to do with the city's drinking water which they say has always tasted funny." "What was she like before?" "I'd like to know that." " Do want to hear what it's about?" " No, I don't!" "I'd..." "I'd like to hear about it." "Thank you, Kathy." "There's a report here from state inspectors that says that the water from two city wells is contaminated... or was before they shut them down... with something called..." "I can't pronounce this... trichlorethylene... ethylene, which the EPA lists as a probable carcinogen." " No, no, no." "Let me stop you right there." " There's more." "I don't need to hear it." "From a financial standpoint, I can tell you right now, this is not a sound investment." "Probable is just a euphemism for unproven." "To prove something like this, you need new medical research." "Is that our business we're in, the medical research business?" "And... and you have to ask yourself, why is this an orphan?" "Why has it been kicked from firm to firm before it ended up on your desk." "Gordon's right." "I can appreciate the theatrical value of several dead kids." "I like that, obviously." "That's good." "That's all this case has going for it." "That's not enough" "I'll get rid of it." "I'll... just go up there and..." "And then she'll start to cry again and then you'll start to cry again and she'll be mad at me again, so I'll do it." "I'll get rid of it." "Give it to me." "Thank you." " There you go, sir." " Thank you." " Drive careful now." " Oh yeah." "When I stand on my front porch," "I can see all the houses where children have died." "These are the Kanes, the Toomeys, the Zohners, the Robbins and the Aufieros." "Now, I want to be clear." "I'm not interested in money... none of us are, that's not why we're doing this." "What we want is to know what happened." "And we want an apology." " From who?" " From whoever did this." "I want somebody to come to my house, knock on the door and say, "We're responsible. "" ""We did this." "We didn't mean it, but we did it and we're sorry. "" "But who is that?" "Well, we don't know." "Mrs Anderson, our firm is very small, three attorneys, that's it." "Which means that we can only take so many cases at once and we have to be very careful about the ones we do because, frankly, we can't afford to lose." "Our clients pay nothing, we pay everything, we only get paid back if we win or settle." " I know that." " You want an apology." "And there's nothing more I'd like to do than to get you that apology, but from who?" "Who is going to apologize to you and pay me?" "There has to be a defendant and one with very deep pockets." "This is not an inexpensive case to try." "There's an old tannery out there." "A tannery?" "And some other small factories." "I really wish I could help you but I can't." "I'm sorry." "Maybe you could go out there for just a few minutes, to the river, to the wells, and take a look." "For what?" "What would that...what would that accomplish?" "I do hope you find someone." "And I am sorry." " Thank you very much." " Drive carefully." "It was fate." "I was meant to get that ticket, at that moment, at that exact spot in the road." "Do you know who Beatrice is?" "Peter Pan peanut butter," "Tropicana orange juice," "Rosarita Mexican Food," "Swiss Miss cocoa, Samsonite luggage, Playtex bras..." "The list goes on!" " And the other one?" " W.R. Grace." "Chemicals and manufacturing with plants in two dozen states," "South America, Europe and Japan." " What's this?" " That's the ticket." "No, I've got the speeding ticket right here." " I know, I got two speeding tickets." " Oh, it was a two-ticket town, like that other place." "Exactly." "You don't want to take your Caddie there." "Kevin, this is a gold mine." "You almost let it get away." "I almost let it get away." "Lawsuits are war... it's as simple as that." "And they begin the same way, with a declaration of war - the complaint." "When you're a small firm and they're a big one, steeped in history and wealth, like they always are with their Persian carpets on the floor and their Harvard diplomas hanging on the walls, it's easy to be intimidated." "Don't... that's what they want." "That's what they expect, like all bullies." "That's how they win." "I don't run away from bullies." "Mr Facher..." "Mr Doyle asked me to bring this to you." "When?" " When did he ask me?" " Yeah." "Just now." "On your lunch break?" "That hardly seems fair." "I almost never go to lunch, sir." "Too much to do." "I just grab something." "You know, if I were you, I'd make a point of taking an hour or so away from all the noise and insanity in this place." "I should do that." "I'd find a place for myself where I could go that was relatively quiet and peaceful, have a sandwich, read a magazine." "Maybe listen to a game out at Fenway if one was on." "I'd make sure everyone knew I didn't want to be disturbed me during that hour or so of solitude." "Because that would be my time - my own private time, which no-one, if they had any sense of self-preservation at all, would dare interrupt." "If I were you." "I'm sorry." "Jesus." "Jesus!" "Jesus..." "Mr Facher, it's Bill Cheeseman" " Foley, Hoag and Elliot." "We represent New York Grace." "How you doing?" "Well, all right, I guess, under the circumstances." "What circumstances are those?" "Woburn...these outrageous charges." "This bloodsucking ambulance chaser, Schlichtmann." "Who?" "We're co-defendants in a lawsuit, Mr Facher, a very serious lawsuit." " What?" " What is that thumping?" "Yeah, well, it's gone now." "It was driving me crazy!" "Ah, listen, I was wondering if I could talk to you about something." " Do you think we could get together for a drink or a..." " What's on your mind?" "Well, I'll tell you what I'm thinking." " Are you familiar with Rule 11?" " With what?" "Rule 11, it's a civil provision designed to prevent frivolous and irresponsible lawsuits like this one, and to sanction quite severely those who file them." "Mr..." "Cheeseman." "Cheeseman, is it?" "Mr Cheeseman." "What is a fine?" "When you get a fine what do you do?" "You pay it and go back to business." "If you're gonna knock a guy down, do it so he can't get up again." "What are you looking for with this suit?" "Well, obviously, we'll be seeking compensation for the families and punitive damages for the willful negligence of these two companies." "But is that what this is really all about...money?" " No." " Is that what matters most to any of us?" " No." " It's about this." "And this." "And this." "Yeah." "Yeah, I know, we have no feelings, no compassion, no empathy for our clients' suffering." "Can I say something?" "What does that have to do with anything?" "In fact the lawyer who shares his client's pain, in my opinion, does his client such a grave disservice he should have his licence to practice law taken away." "It clouds his judgement, and that's as beneficial to his client as a doctor who recoils at the sight of blood." "All rise." "This court is now in session." "The Honorable Walter J Skinner presiding." "Is this the only case?" "This is a lot of lawyers." "Sit down." " Mr Facher." " Your Honor." "You're looking well." "The Red Sox must be in first place." "Roger Clemens is the answer to my prayers." "You have some interest in this case?" "I'm a co-defendant, so I guess I do have an interest, but it's not my motion." "It's Foley-Hoag's." " And that motion is?" " Your Honor, if I might." " My name is Jan Schlichtmann." " I know." "Sit down." "Now, the matter before us seems to be a simple one." " Your Honor, I'm sorry but I don't think it is simple." " May I hear it?" "No, you see the true intention of this motion is to try to place me under a cloud of impropriety in your courtroom, right from the beginning." " Really?" " Yes." "What they're saying with this motion is that they know the law and I don't." "What they're saying is that they're real lawyers and I'm not." "They're just trying to humiliate me." "Mr Schlichtmann, you are a personal injury lawyer, are you not?" "I think you'll survive that." " You see?" "It's starting already." " No, you've started already." "I'm on the defensive already and they're the defendants." "Mr Schlichtmann..." "Do you think I might at least hear this motion before YOU explain to ME what it's really about?" " Of course." " Thank you." "Now, Mr..." "Cheeseman, is it?" "Your motion to dismiss is based on?" "Rule 11, Your Honor." "Specifically on the fact that Mr Schlichtmann had absolutely no evidential grounds on which to bring this suit - only his knowledge that my client, the W.R. Grace Corporation, has a lot of money." "Not true." "He performed no real investigation, he did no research of any consequence, except perhaps to review profit statements." "And he's prepared his complaint so inexpertly as to render it moot." " All untrue." " Do you know what Rule 11 is, Mr Schlichtmann?" "Well, to be honest with you, Your Honor, I had to look it up." "I'll be honest, too." "So did I. Do you know why, Mr Cheeseman?" "Because it is so old and ambiguous few lawyers waste their time with it, or mine." "It's a non-issue, Mr Cheeseman." "Your motion is denied." "Thank you." "Thank you." " Anything else?" " No, Your Honor." "Set a trial date." "Excuse me, Mr Facher." "I'd like to thank you." "That was very statesman-like of you not to join that ridiculous attack." "You're welcome." "Well, what we have to do is to show how the toxic solvents these two factories dumped on the land there, migrated underground and were drawn into the city wells here and Well H over there, and was then pumped into the homes of East Woburn." " Right." " And to do that, it's quite simple, really" "I'll need to inspect the land, map out the location of debris, drill some monitoring wells, conduct seismic tests, and so on." "And you're talking about you and a couple of assistants, or something?" "No." "I mean a team of geologists and engineers." " A team?" " A big team." "You see it's actually quite exciting because the nature of the contour here means there's an effect - which is named after me, as a matter of fact, where the flow of the aquifer goes against the gravitational pull..." "In the Grace paintshop, Mr Roberts, I imagine you used paint thinners and solvents to clean your brushes and things?" "I wonder what you would've done with that stuff, let's say, back in the 1970s or early '80s?" " Used solvent?" " Yeah." " Put it in drums." " 35-gallon drums?" "And, er, what would you do with those drums when they were filled up?" " Don't know." " They were just gone?" " Never noticed." " You never dumped them out back?" " No." " Never did anything like that?" " Never noticed anyone who did?" " No." "Just disappeared..." "What were your duties at Grace back then, Mr Shalline?" "Oversee disposal and discharge to the drains." "Be sure we weren't polluting the air, things of that nature" "Well then you must know then that, over the years, certain chemicals were deposited on the ground in the back of the plant" "I don't know that." "Six barrels of toxic waste, Mr Shalline, were found out in the back of the plant in a pit and were exhumed by city inspectors." "You never heard anything about this?" "No." "Back then in 1965 or thereafter did you clean metal parts with any type of solvent?" "Yes." " What kind?" " That I couldn't tell you." "Did you ever notice the name trichlorethylene or TCE?" "No, I don't know." "But you'd put it in barrels when you were done with it, that seems to be the process, right?" "Yes." "Did you ever see what happened to these barrels of solvent when you were through with them?" "Yes." "What was that?" " They get dumped." " Where?" " Out back, in the ground." " You saw this?" "Yes." " When?" " My coffee break." "I would go out and hit nine-iron shots with golf balls." "Do you want to take a little break?" " Do you need a break?" " No." "Did you see who was out there dumping the stuff when you were hitting your golf balls?" " What do you mean?" " The names of people." "He wants to tell us." "He's not going to tell us." "He has to work there." "He has to work there but he lives across the street from Anne Anderson." "He has to see her every day." " Mr Love, do you have any children?" " Yes, I do." " Eight of them." " Eight?" "My goodness!" "That's quite a family." "What do you think of the water in Woburn?" "Now?" "It's all right." "What about then, 10, 15 years ago?" "It had an odor then." "Chlorine or something." " Did you drink it?" " Yeah, I drank it." " The kids?" " Yes." "Were you concerned when you found out that the wells were contaminated?" "I'm going to object to that." "You don't...you don't have to answer that." " Yeah, I was concerned." " For your family's health?" "Yes." "Has any member of your family had any illness out of the ordinary?" "You don't have to answer any of these type of questions." " Yeah, they have." " What kind?" "One of my sons has a seizure disorder, my eldest daughter has had two miscarriages and my youngest boy was born with..." "Are we going to sit here all day and go through his entire family's medical history?" "Well if you don't want to hear it then leave." "I don't know what you're doing here anyway." "We're deposing Grace employees, not Beatrice." " If you're deposing anybody, anybody, I have a right to be here." " Well then sit down and shut up!" "Mr Love, are you aware that some of your neighbors have had leukemia in their families?" "Yes, I am." "They think it's the water." "Al, that water hasn't made anybody sick." " How do you know?" " I just do." "There's a lot of people in my neighborhood that are dead, or dying, Mr Chessman, from something." "Look, if I took a hundred pennies and threw them up in the air, about half of them would land heads and the other half tails, right?" "Now, if I looked around closely, I'd probably find some heads grouped together in a cluster." "What does that mean?" "Does that mean anything?" "You see, no one knows what causes leukemia, Al." "No one knows what caused that cluster." "I know what happened." "And I know who did it." "Al, this is very important." "I want you to tell me who those people are." "I'm not a rat." "You know, it's important, because if there is something wrong out there, we need to disclose it to the proper authorities." "We need to get them out there and have it cleaned up." "You think about that and call me if you..." "Yeah." "Yeah." "Do you eat peanut butter?" "No." "You've never eaten peanut butter?" "I guess everyone alive has probably tried it, but I'm not exactly what you'd call a peanut butter fan." "What about your son?" "Did he ever eat peanut butter?" " Do you eat bacon?" " Yes." " Yes." " How often?" "How many slices?" "Do you have Teflon pans in your kitchen?" "Do you chew sugarless gum?" "Do you pump your own gas?" "Do you use hair spray?" "Do you use artificial sweeteners?" "Smoke cigarettes?" "Drink diet soda?" "Use tampons?" "Do you ever have your clothes dry-cleaned?" "Do you have silver fillings in your teeth?" "So, you were aware when you moved to Woburn that its water didn't taste good." "Yeah, but a lot of places the water doesn't taste so good." "I agree with that." "Did you ever consider using bottled water?" "We used bottled water off and on, split half and half." "Like... we cooked with regular water...tap water." "We did other things, like make orange juice." "But to... drink just straight water, we drank bottled water." "Has any doctor ever told you that you had any dysfunction of your immune system?" "No." "But when my son died, they told us that was why he died." "His immune system was... tore down to nothing." " Why did you have an autopsy?" " Because he was doing good." "He only lived three months with leukemia and he looked fine." "Did you talk to the doctor about this?" "I had more like a violent talk with him." " "Violent"?" "You were angry?" " Yelling at him." "Your son seemed to be doing all right." "He was in remission?" "You were optimistic about his future and suddenly he became ill and died." "And they said that was expected... that anybody with a disease like leukemia could die any minute." " But you were angry and upset." " My son just died." "I understand, I'm just trying to... to recreate the event." "You can tell when your child isn't feeling well." "You try to explain on the phone and they say, "Has he got a temperature?"" "You say, "No. " "He's all right, then," they say." ""Don't worry, bring him into the clinic Monday morning. "" "He died Monday morning." "He was in the clinic when he died?" "No." "He was in the car, on the way." "He died in the car on the way to the clinic?" "He died on I-93, up by the Somerville exit." "My wife was yelling that he'd stopped breathing." "I pulled over and tried to give him CPR." "I was..." "I was holding him in my lap." "Lauren was... screaming." "Cars and trucks rushing by." "And... she helped..." "I'm sorry." "It's all right." "It's OK." "These people can never testify." "No." "That's about right." "We'll have the first seven monitor wells in this, kind of, area, in the permeable rock here." "All right." "There's seven?" "Yes." "I did say initially there'd be only seven." "I think now it's more likely that we're going to have probably 12, because..." "Hey!" "Hey!" " Private property." " Yes, this is your property." "Yes, it's my property and you're trespassing." " Here you go." " What the fuck is this?" "That's a court order, Mr Riley, which means that I have the right to be here on your land, and to inspect every inch of your tannery, as well." "No, no, you keep that." "That's your copy." "Let's go." "I started working when I was seven years old, sweeping the beam house floors for my father, which he swept for his father when he was seven years old." " Which my boys..." " I know." "They swept it, too." "Please answer the question I asked, not one I didn't." "Silicone, Mr Riley, and trichlorethylene." "These two chemicals mixed together are used to waterproof leather, are they not?" "I asked you a question, Mr Riley...again." "Mr Facher, please inform your client that he's obligated to answer my question." "Let the record show that the witness has emptied a glass of water on the conference table." "What exactly do you intend to say to me, Mr Riley, by pouring water on my table?" "This is how silicone is put on leather to waterproof it." "I'm answering your question." "It's poured on, like you poured water on my table." "Yeah." "Correct." "So some of it must spill off the leather, like the water spilling off my table... and onto my rug." "That's the part I'm interested in." "The spilled silicone and trichlorethylene, sir, how you disposed of that." " I never once used TCE." " TCE?" "Did I say TCE?" "I didn't say TCE." "I said trichlorethylene." "You said TCE - as it is commonly known... to those who know it." "Mr Riley, you wouldn't you mind if I checked your statements today against your office records, would you?" "Your invoices, purchase orders and formulas?" "No." "Be my guest." "They go back... three years." "Everything before that, we dumped." " Jan, you're not listening." " I am listening." " You've been out there three times and nothing." "I know why you find this unacceptable." "It's just that you don't know what it's like out there." "Riley is Woburn." "He's been there for ever." "His employees are like loyal subjects." "None of them will talk." "Ex-employees, that's who you should be talking to." " Disgruntled employees...disloyal subjects...they talk." " So you want me to go back out there?" "This is THE case against Beatrice, this liar." "You go back out there and catch him in a lie." " You got the rest of the medical records?" " Almost." "I can't the complete records on the..." "Just get it." "This figure here, this $100 an hour for Dr Cohen, that seems more than fair, considering his pre-eminence." "That's for his nights in the hotel, Jan" "That's his discount sleeping rate." " Your doctors have cost us more than 900,000 so far." " Well, they're worth it." " Your geologists have cost more than 500,000." " Well they're worth it." "That's not the point." "The point is, everybody in the firm's working only on this case." "That means we have no money coming in...just going out." "So what, what, you want to cut our losses now?" "Is that what you want to do, Gordon?" "You want to just get out now and throw away 900 and... what is it?" "1.4 million dollars." "Goodnight." "Well I don't know what to tell you, because there's certain things I've got to prove and I can't do that not spending money." "We have to go see Uncle Pete." " So, Gordon, where are we on the loan I gave you last..." " Spent it." " Spent it?" "How much of it?" " All of it." "What about the Carney settlement?" "How much of that is..." " Spent it." " On?" "Woburn." "We spend everything on Woburn now." "On Woburn." "So what do you think you're going to need to tide you over here?" "Two, three hundred?" "600,000." " 600,000?" " Yeah." "Pete, when was the last time you lost money betting on me?" "Never." "I'm probably the best investment your bank ever made." "How do vampires get around on Halloween?" " Pass." " Blood vessels." "Let's go." " Bye, Dad." " See you later." "Goodbye." "Love you." "I thought about coming to see you for a long time." "Guess I was afraid to 'cause..." "I didn't think you'd want to talk to me, 'cause... where I work and everything." "I'm concerned about what's been happening around here and..." "I'm angry at the company for the way it's handling itself." "I'm very sorry about your son." "Thank you." "He said he never dumped anything out back, never did anything like that, never saw anybody who did." "Tommy Barbas didn't tell you the truth." "Neither did Paul Shalline." "Tommy, Paul and Joey were out back all the time with their buckets and barrels..." " Joey who?" " Joey Miola, plant maintenance." "And the rumor is, there's 50 more of those barrels buried under this new building here that the city inspectors didn't find." " 50?" " Or more." "Here." "OK." "Is there anyone else at the plant that might talk to me?" "I don't think so." "Bobby Pasqueriella." "Bobby?" "He might." "He doesn't work there any more though." "Could you call him?" "Yeah, that's the stuff got dumped." "Yeah, all the time." "Threw it back there myself all the time." "Eddie Arsine, he'd say "Go and dump that stuff out there in the gully. "" "Out there in the gully there, you know?" "Dumped it back there in the gully right there." "Washed down the belts and gearboxes with it, and threw it in the gully." "He'd say, dump it out in the gully, like Joey." " How about Tom Barbas, did he?" " Tommy?" "No, not Tommy, no." " Never did anything like that?" " No, no." "He dumped his in a ditch." "Ok" "Good morning Mr Barbas." "Nice to see you again." "I understand you've had a chance to think about things since your first deposition." "He says that you said he should just pour it into the pit." "Is that how you remember it now that your memory's been refreshed?" "Then he said, go out there and dig a trench... 20, 30 feet long." "...and load the barrels onto the truck, drive out there... dump it into the swimming pool." "That's what we called it...the swimming pool." "Right." "Mr Cheeseman, well done." "The odds of a plaintiff's lawyer winning in civil court are 2 to 1 against." "Think about that for a second." "Your odds of surviving a game of Russian roulette are better than winning a case at trial. 12 times better." "So why does anyone do it?" "They don't." "They settle." "Out of the 780,000 cases filed each year, only 12,000, or one-and-a-half percent, ever reach a verdict." "The whole idea of lawsuits is to settle, to compel the other side to settle." "And you do that by spending more money than you should, which forces them to spend more money than they should." "And whoever comes to their senses first... loses." "Trials are a corruption of the entire process." "And only fools with something to prove end up ensnared in them." "Now when I say prove, I don't mean about the case." "I mean about themselves." "Hey, old man, out of the way!" " How's business, by the way?" " Business is good." "Is it?" "That's good." "I was afraid that, with all these scientists and doctors and whatnot, a small boutique firm like yours might be in financial trouble." "I appreciate your concern, Jerry." "We've got more than enough to go the distance." "Are you sure?" "I mean I'd hate it if one day you realized you miscalculated the arithmetic, and there you were, digging quarters out the seats of your shiny black sports car." " You don't have to worry, Jerry." " That's a relief." "You know what?" "You don't want me in this case." "You've got Grace and one deep pocket is enough." "I'm only gonna hurt you." "So get rid of me." "Tell me what you've got here so far, I have a cheque cut, we get on with our lives." "What do you say?" "My expenses?" "You're offering to cover my expenses?" "Your expenses and your pride." "You think you're gonna put those families on the stand." "Your mothers and your fathers are going to tell their stories and jury's going to pull out their handkerchiefs and dab their eyes?" "Do you really think I'd let that happen?" "I don't see how you can prevent it." "Of course you don't." " Yeah?" " Jan, guess what?" "Cheeseman called." "He wants to talk." "He wants a number." "He wants out." "I'll get everything together." "I'll meet you back here at the office." "Jan, this is it." "We've got them." "That's great." "Oh, baby." "God, no!" "He said he'd be here." "Are the Red Sox in town?" "Sorry I'm late." "I got tied up." "Yeah." "Well, I was just given a chair at Harvard, of all things." "You're kidding." "Which chair?" "It's black with arms, with my name on a brass plate on the back." "From my students." "Jerry, ever thought about getting yourself a new briefcase?" "No, no." "You don't change your socks in the middle of the World Series, Jan." "Am I sitting in the right place?" "Well, actually, we have a seat for you here, but that's fine." "This's a nice pen." " They're courtesy of the hotel." " Really?" "This is a good quality pen." "Yeah." " So." " So, Bill...?" "How much did Grace make last year?" "I have no idea." "But I have a feeling that you do." "198 million dollars." "And Beatrice, Jerry?" " What?" " 436 million dollars." "Together, that's 634 million dollars." "That's one year." "That's net." "So, that's what they made." "Now, what should they be made to pay?" "To compensate the families, to provide for their economic security in the future?" "Don't forget to mention you - compensating you." "And to make sure that this kind of thing doesn't happen again." "25 million dollars cash." "And another 25 million dollars to establish a research foundation to study the links between hazardous waste and illness." "And 1.5 million dollars per family annually for 30 years." "320 million dollars." "Can I ask a question?" "I'm sure everyone has questions." "What's yours, Jerry?" "Can I have this?" "Thank you." "Excuse me." " Jan?" " Yes, Gordon?" "What's the story?" " Well I guess they just don't want to end this thing." " They don't want..." "You said this would never go to trial." "You just made certain that it will." "Without consulting us, I might add." "They patronize us." "They think we're blackmailers." "They think they can buy us." "Yeah?" "We can't afford a long drawn-out trial." "Well you're going to have to find a way of getting some money, then." " What do you suggest?" " Am I the financial advisor around here?" "No, you're not." "This is the plan." "We start with scientific evidence." "And then the medical experts and their evidence." "Then the parents, and then your testimony." "Your presence is very important in the courtroom." "This is where the jury gets to know you." "If you're there some days and not other days, they say "Why wasn't she there?"" "and "Does she really care?" and this kind of thing." "I'll be there every day, in the back left-hand corner." "Well wherever you're most comfortable." "That was our plan." "If we got separated in the grocery store or the department store that's where we'd meet." "Oh, I see, I see." "In the end, when he was dying, he said, I'll meet you in the back left-hand corner of heaven." "All rise." "This court is now in session." "The Honorable Walter J Skinner presiding." "Civil Action 841672." "Anderson and all versus W.R. Grace and Beatrice Foods." "Ladies and gentlemen... there's a small town north of Boston called Woburn." "Now Woburn is like many small towns." "It has homes, it has churches, it has schools, it has industry." "But Woburn has something else." "It has more than its share of sickness and death." "It's true, small amounts of solvents were left on the ground." "Why?" "To evaporate." "Did they?" "Yes." "These chemicals never reached Wells G and H - almost half a mile away...and we will show that." "And they never made anyone sick, and we will show that, too." "The idea of criminal court is crime and punishment." "The idea of civil court and personal injury law by nature - though no-one likes to say it out loud, least of all the personal injury lawyer himself - is money." "Money for suffering." "Money for death." "As if that could somehow relieve suffering." "As if that could somehow bring dead children back to life." "Every credit card application we send in, we get two more in the mail." "Here's one from some bank I never heard of in North Dakota." "Fill it out." "Fill them all out." "It's the last great pyramid scheme in America." "The terrain of East Woburn was actually shaped 12,000 years ago, during the end of the last Ice Age." "Now, at this time, an immense glacier, over a mile thick, covered the face of what we would now call New England." "Cancel The American Lawyer." "Cancel all the legal journals." "Who needs them?" "And call the janitorial people, tell them their services are no longer required." "We can empty our own fuckin' ashtrays." "To understand what's going on in the ground water system, the place we have to start is the soil itself." "Now these are actual soil samples so the sample C, the Aberjona River valley..." "I..." "I can't send you the entire balance right now." "But perhaps we could work out some sort of a deal." "How much can I send you right now?" "Nothing." "A plaintiff's case depends on momentum." "The fewer objections he gets, the better his case will go." "So whenever you can, you should object." "18 times yesterday, 20 times today." "They're not even his witnesses, they're his." "I can't not object when you phrase questions improperly, not just from a craftsman's point of view..." "He is deliberately trying to destroy the rhythm of my case." "Here we are." "Man!" "You've got to have some good luck on this one." " Hold on, hold on, hold on. 17, 17, 17." " You got a winner there?" "No!" "Shoot." "Relevance...objection." "Hearsay...objection." "Best evidence...objection." "Authenticity..." "Objection." "If you should fall asleep at the council table, the first thing you say when you wake up should be..." "Eh...?" "Objection." "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?" "Yes." "Good morning, Mr Riley." "Would you care for a glass of water?" "No, thank you." "Are you sure?" "Now the single greatest liability a lawyer can have is pride." "Pride... pride has lost more cases than lousy evidence, idiot witnesses and a hanging judge all put together." "There is absolutely no place in a courtroom for pride." "Mr Riley, you own the property referred to often in this courtroom as the 15 acres, do you not?" "No, I don't." "That land is currently owned by a non-profit corporation called The Wildwood Conservancy." "Oh, yes, yes." "Here it is, The Wildwood Conservancy." "Now what is that?" " Some kind of conservation group?" " Yes, sir." "I've donated the land as a sanctuary for indigent wildlife." "Well, you know, I don't think the indigent wildlife has heard about this, Mr Riley." "I've been out there on several occasions and I have yet to see a single bird or any other living thing." "I get him to say no, no, no." "He says yes once, I've got him." "He's not that stupid." "Keep him up there long enough, he's gonna figure out a way to get you." "I'm not that stupid." "Mr Riley, experts have testified in this court that your land, your 15 acres, is the most grotesquely polluted land in all of New England." "Now you have no idea how it got that way?" " No, sir." " Does it upset you to learn this?" " Very much so." " Really?" "Why?" "And one last thing, unless you know exactly what the answer's going to be, never, ever ask a witness "why"." "Never." "My factory is the oldest surviving business in Woburn." "When the other tanners moved out, I stayed, even though for me that was a very big financial burden." " This is not the question..." " I stayed because Woburn is my home..." "Mr Riley..." "Your Honor..." "This is not the question." "He's trying to answer it, Mr Schlichtmann." "Let him." "That land has been in my family for three generations." "That land to me is hallowed ground." "So when you ask me would I be upset if someone came onto that land and desecrated it - land that's part of the town that I love - my answer to your question, Mr Schlichtmann... is yes." "I have no further questions, Your Honor." "... and the sad part of it is, they're robbing themselves of the blessing of giving." "And I know a lot of y'all ain't gonna believe this but if somebody wrote a cheque tomorrow for the total budget of my church, it wouldn't affect my giving one bit." "Ain't nobody gonna rob me of the blessing I get from giving!" "And you know why a lot of folks ain't getting?" "'Cause they ain't giving!" "Do not rob yourself of the blessing of giving." "You'll never guess what I did last night." "You'll like this." "I pledged 200 dollars to a televangelist." "I'm not kidding." "He said, "Give and ye shall receive. "" "I told him right out..." "I know." "I know what you're thinking." "You're thinking, Gordon's losing it." "He's falling apart." "He's probably buying lottery tickets." "I bought a few." "I'll admit it." "I know, but seriously, the jackpot's 45 million dollars." "That's just this week!" "You should see the lines out there." " Is that a gun?" " What?" "This?" "No." "No, this is for you." "My Krugerrands." "I've had them forever." "I want you to have them." "And this is the deed to my house." "Here is Conway's and Crowley's and Jan's." "See, I come bearing gifts." "We really need the money." "You can tell when your child isn't feeling well." ""Has he got a temperature?" You say "No. " "He's all right, then", they say." ""Don't worry." "Bring him in to the clinic Monday morning. " He died Monday morning." "Start with Jimmy Anderson - countless trips to hospital, futile chemotherapy treatments." "and then the other kids, one by one, ending with Jared Aufiero, dying on the highway." "Could somebody get that?" "Where is everybody?" "You're just noticing now?" "Gordon laid everybody off two weeks ago." "Gordon, instead of sitting there reading a magazine, why don't you go to Uncle Pete and get me a staff?" "That's a good idea." "Why didn't I think of that?" "Hello?" "Yes, I was told there was a Cheeseman on the Mayflower." " This way, sir." " Thank you." "Ah, Jan, have a seat." "You want something to drink?" "Some coffee?" "Soda?" "You've been talking without my being present?" "No, we have been drinking coffee without your being present." "Don't be so paranoid." "They were early." " All right." "What's up?" " Jerry?" "Last night, I was at a ball game." "It was the seventh innings stretch and I was standing there, and I don't know why but it occurred to me at that moment, unless you've proven that any..." "What word should we use?" " Chemicals?" " Poisons." "Alright, if you like that word, I'll use it." "Unless you've proven that any poisons actually reached the wells, there's no case." "And therefore, no need to make these families, who've already suffered so much, relive their suffering all over again by putting them on the stand." " Your Honor, you've got..." " That's interesting." " What?" " I think I'd have to agree with that." "Your Honor, the..." "If the jury decides favorably on the geological evidence, yes, then you could bring your families in." "Your Honor, the jury came into this courtroom expecting a human drama." "And instead, for three months, we've been giving them lessons in geology." "Now we had to do that but now it's over...finally." " Now it's time..." " Now we have to see where we are before we move on, and before we subject these families to more trauma than necessary, because that would just be cruel." " They want to testify...they need to testify" " The decision has been made." " But this is the defendant's plan, this..." " It's my plan." "But this is Facher's plan." "Right from the beginning, he told me...he threatened..." "It's MY plan!" "Now... my plan is to present the jury with some simple questions." "...indeed how you answer these three questions, will determine whether or not this trial continues." "It's not that I disagree with them - it's that I don't understand them." "What don't you understand?" "They're straightforward questions." "Have the plaintiffs established, by preponderance of evidence, that chemicals containing TCE were disposed of on the W.R.Grace and Beatrice owned lands after October 1, 1964 and August 27, 1968, respectively, and did those chemicals contribute to the well water contamination?" "What were these dates, for one thing?" "What are they?" "Where do they come from?" "From out of a hat?" "Question two." "What, according to a preponderance of the evidence, was the earliest time...the month and year...at which these chemicals substantially contributed to the contamination of the wells?" "Well how can they determine that?" "Science can't even determine when the chemicals arrived at the wells with the precision that you're asking of the jurors." "And finally, three." "What, according to a preponderance of the evidence, was the earliest time - again, month and year - at which substantial contribution referred to in question two was caused, if it was, by the negligent conduct of the defendants?" "But what does that mean?" "It's like English translated into Japanese back into English again." "Mr Schlichtmann I've heard enough." "Your Honor, no one can answer these questions." " I worked very hard on these questions." " You're asking for answers that are unknowable." "I said I have heard enough." "You're asking these people to create a fiction that will stand for the truth, but won't be the truth." "Enough!" "Once again, I remind you not to discuss your views with any outside party, and excuse you..." "Don't worry about it." "Everything's under control." "And excuse you to your deliberations." "Thank you." "I've never done this." "In 45 years of practicing law," "I've never waited in a corridor for a jury." " I always do." " I can tell." "You're good at it." "You seem so at peace doing it." "So what do you think?" "Is it good they're staying out this long or is it bad?" " For who?" " For me, of course." "You can never tell, can you." "It could mean anything." "It could mean jury duty's more fun than working at the post office." " It's bad for both of you." " You think?" "Well, here's my take." "Guilty." "Not guilty." "That's what they're going to say." "and it's not going to have anything to do with dates or ground-water measurements or any of that crap, which nobody can understand anyway." "It's going to come down to people, like it always does." "You found someone who saw him dumping stuff." "You didn't find anyone who saw me." " What's your take?" " They'll see the truth." "The truth?" "I thought we were talking about a court of law." "Come on, you've been around long enough to know that a courtroom isn't a place to look for the truth." "You're lucky to find anything here that in any way resembles the truth." "You disagree." "Well, since when?" "Eight kids are dead, Jerry." "Jan," "Jan, that suit fits you better than the sentimentality." "That's not how you made all that money all these years, is it?" "You want to know when this case stopped being about dead children?" "the minute you filed the complaint." "The minute it entered the justice system." "Oh, yes." "I know you like to gamble." "you're like a high-stakes gambler, that's your profession." "Why don't we test your born-again faith in the righteousness of our courts with a high-stakes gamble?" "If that's a settlement offer, Jerry, it's not enough." " That's not what I hear." " Who said that?" "The IRS, telling us they have a lien on any eventual settlement in order to recover over two and a half million dollars in unpaid taxes." "But, well..." "Alright..." "What if I would add six zeros onto that?" "That's right." "That would be...what?" "...20 million dollars." "Now, that would put things in perspective for you, wouldn't it?" "As far as truth and justice and... and dead children go?" "If you want to talk seriously about a settlement offer, let's get the decision-makers together and talk seriously." "The decision-makers are here, aren't they?" "You're looking at Mr Beatrice." "I don't have to call anybody." "Do you?" "It's just you and me." "We're like kings." "We are kings." "Sitting in our castle, deciding important things." "Deciding the fates of others." "And counting money." "In our counting room!" "Tell you what." "I'll leave this here," "I'll go back down the hall to my throne room and I'll await your decision." "Oh, if you're really looking for the truth, Jan, look for it where it is - at the bottom of a bottomless pit." "Mr Foreman, members of the jury, have you reached a verdict?" "Yes, Your Honor." "With respect to W.R. Grace, the jury has answered..." ""yes" to question one regarding trichlorethylene contamination, requiring that we proceed further in the case against Grace to a second stage of this trial." "In regard to Beatrice, the jury has answered "no" to question one in all its points pertaining to contamination which renders questions two and three inapplicable, ending the case against Beatrice." " Mr Facher, that means you're excused." " Thank you, Your Honor." "We are going to take a little break now, a breather, until after lunch." "Once again, I remind you not to talk to anyone about your deliberations and... thank you for your service." "Disappointed?" "No, no." "We're not disappointed at all." "This is a victory." "This sends a clear message to these companies that they can no longer get away with this kind of thing." " So what now?" " Right now?" "I think we should celebrate, have some champagne." "What do you think?" "Yes?" "So you intend to go forward with your claims against Grace, no matter how long it takes?" "We have to get out of this case as fast as we can." "That's the only strategy we have left." "The good news is Grace wants to talk." "They want us to come to New York and sit down with, uh, their executive vice-president, Al Eustis." "So before we do that we need to know what our squeal point is." "8 million. 8 million will just about get us out of hock." "Bill" "Whatever Gordon says, he knows the numbers." "Jan, every dollar we spend is a dollar we don't have." "We are floating on credit without a net." "Well, I don't need a net." "Mortgage my house." "I don't care." "I have." "And Kevin's and Bill's and mine." "And I've cashed in our retirement plan." "And our life-insurance policies." "And it's gone." "Let me put it this way, if we can't make it appear that we have money...we can go the distance they not gonna give us 8 million dollars." "They won't give us eight cents." "You know that." "You all know that." "It's the nicest suite in the hotel." "It has a living room, dining room, two bedrooms, a den, a lovely view." "It's 2,400 dollars a night." "For our inner strength." " On the card." " Why not?" "Farmers' Bank of Iowa." "Hey, there!" " Hi, Jan Schlichtmann." " Al Eustis." "How are you?" "Sorry I'm late." "I got lost." " You got lost?" " Yes." "How did you manage that?" "I've never been here before so..." "What?" "Never been here before, what kind of Harvard man are you?" "The Cornell kind." "Cornell?" "I thought you went to Harvard?" "I'm sure somebody said that you went to Harvard!" "Cornell!" "Yes." "Well, listen, Cornell is... is a damn good school." "Damn good." "So what do you want?" "Well, I could take you through it step by step or, if you prefer, you could take this with you and study it." "It's a little complicated but..." "It's an unspoken rule of the Harvard Club - business is never transacted here." "I meant, what do you want to drink?" "I wanted to reach across and strangle him with his tie." "Instead, I sat there for two hours and listened to him talk about selling his yacht at Long Island Sound." "You know, sometimes I actually prefer the little one, the 35-footer." "Because I can crew it myself," "I can be all by myself out there alone." "Boy, it's magnificent." "And there's no..." "Nobody can call you." "Nobody can beep you." "Nobody can fax you." "There's no lawsuits." "You know what I'm talking about." "You sail?" " No." " You don't sail?" "Finally, we went to his office." "Well, let's go over here and sit down." "Come on." "It's more comfortable." "Have a seat." "He comes around the desk, he sits down." "Go ahead, sit down." "He puts his feet up on this spindly, French antique thing and he tells me to put my feet up." "Put your feet up." "Come on." "I don't want to." " No, thank you." " No, go ahead." " Go ahead." " No, really, I'm fine." "Nothing's going to break." "It's all right." "Come on, put them up." "It was weird...all this talk about putting my feet on this table." "It's all right, I mean it." "Try it." "Come on, put your feet up." "There." "Now let's be honest." "I can afford to pay you almost anything you ask." "It's not the money." "It's what a settlement that high says." "It says we're guilty." "And that says to every two-bit personal injury lawyer in Boston," "Hey, let's run up to Woburn and sign up every jerk with a head-cold." "Creates a shark effect, and that I can't afford." "Give me a number." "I'm not going to negotiate with myself, Al," "I'm not going to just throw out numbers so you can say no to them." " You'll have to come up with a number." " 8 million." "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 8 million dollars empty-handed?" "8 million dollars is a lot of money!" "I owe them more than that." "You owe them?" "What do you owe them?" "What do you owe them?" "Do you owe them your career?" "You're talking about our careers here!" " You owe them that?" " We're talking about OUR families here!" "That's what we're talking here." "Our families, Jan..." "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 favor, Gordon, will you?" "Shut up." "What?" "I'm so tired of hearing you moan about money all the time." "This isn't about money any more." "No?" "What's it about?" "What's it about, Jan?" " Look, let's just all try to..." " 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 dollars, right now?" " Yes." " But you won't take eight?" "No." "So 10 million is some mythic struggle, but eight is just another lawsuit!" "If they're willing to pay eight, Gordon, then it's not enough, is it?" "." " That makes sense!" " It makes perfect sense." "So the only thing you'll accept is what they're not willing to give us?" "Listen to yourself!" "I for one am sick of listening to you." "I've lost enough because of you." "You wouldn't have anything to lose if it wasn't for me." "Everything you have, I got for you!" "I don't have anything, Jan!" "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 years old." "Here...there's 37 dollars in here." "With interest after 25 years, it's probably 47 dollars!" "Take it!" "Add it to the war chest." "Use it to fight injustice!" "Stand up for principles with the...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 Al 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." "I want to thank you for your service..." "Our contingency fee, as you know, as you agreed to... as is customary is forty percent, but Jan suggested, and we all agreed to reduce that to twenty-eight percent or 2.2 million dollars." "Our expenses...what we actually paid out trying this case - comes to 3.5 million dollars." "Now, subtracting that, and the 28% in fees, from the 8 million we got from Grace and dividing it equally among you, comes out to 375,000 dollars 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 apologize - 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 about it." "But she's right." "She's not right." "It's cold, wet." "We're standing in a swamp." "I want to go home." "Somewhere out here somebody had to have seen 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've had it, 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." "It's poured on" "Like you poured water on my table." "Yeah." "So then some of it must spill off the leather, like 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." " And what did you do?" "You let him in the door." " Of course I let him in." "Do 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 I... what I should've been looking for was someone who helped him clean it up." "Was there a personal reason why you rented two dump trucks and a front loader back in October of '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 get off my property and I'd be within my rights." "Yes, you would." "In the fall of 1981, Mr Riley instructed me to rent a Michigan loader and two 10-wheel dump trucks." " Did he tell you why?" " Yes, he did." "All of it goes." "Everything." "I don't want to see anything but topsoil." "All of it." "Did you think it was strange that after rotting out there for 20 or 30 years he had to get rid of it now?" "...anywhere." "I don't even want to know where you take it." "Just take it." "No, he told me why." "The city inspectors were coming in a couple of days." "He didn't want them to see it." "This went on for several nights." "Fill the trucks, trucks drive off, trucks come back empty, fill them up again." "On the last night..." "On the last night, what?" "Are you sure you didn't see some kids out there on that last night?" " Lighting fire-crackers, drinking beers?" " I've nothing to say to you." "It'd be hard to forget." "You know, it's a..." "Apparently, it was quite a sight." "Go, go, go." "Watch out!" "Hey, You're on private property!" "You little punks!" "He's talking about you!" "Hey, you know what, mister, I'm sorry." "Look I got a little 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 fuck out!" " Come on." "Did Riley threaten you in any way, with what might happen to you if you ever came forward?" "No, sir." "He didn't say anything at all to you 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." "The odds are 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 no longer the resources or the gambling spirit to appeal the decision in the Beatrice case." "I have no money, no partners, and, as far as I can tell, 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, in all it's unwieldiness even as I know you may not care to adopt 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 dollars and cents divided neatly into human suffering, the arithmetic says..." "I failed completely." "What it doesn't say is if I could somehow go back, knowing what I know now, knowing where I'd end up if I got involved with these people, knowing all the numbers, all the odds," "all the angles..." "I'd do it again." "Mr Facher?" "Sorry." "Jesus!" "Mr Schlichtmann." "Mr Schlichtmann?" "I'm sorry." "Yes?" "The purpose of these questions is not to embarrass or humiliate you, but rather to verify the information you've declared as your assets." "I understand." "Because what you're asking your creditors to believe with this petition is..." " Well, it's hard to believe." " I know." "That after 17 years of practicing law, all you have to show for it is... 14 dollars in a chequing account and a portable radio?" "That's correct." "Where did it all go?" "The money?" "The money, the property, the personal belongings." "The things one acquires in one's life, Mr Schlichtmann." "The things by which one measures one's life." "What happened?"