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12 September 2025 / Mark Pawlowski
Issue: 8130 / Categories: Features , Media , Other practice areas
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Troubled waters

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Mark Pawlowski dips into two classic films depicting good lawyering in class actions involving river pollution

In the film Erin Brockovich (2000), based on a true story, the heroine (played by Julia Roberts) is involved in a car accident from which her lawyer, Ed Masry (played by Albert Finney), fails to win her any kind of settlement. With no money, she manages to persuade Ed to give her a job as a legal clerk in his law firm as compensation for her loss.

During her work, she discovers a suspicious cover-up involving contaminated water in a local community (the small Californian town of Hinkley) causing life-threatening illnesses among its residents. Erin and Ed take the case on against a large corporation and attempt to achieve compensation for the toxic tort victims. Erin, in particular, is responsible for assembling sufficient medical and physical evidence to launch a civil action against the corporation, Pacific Gas and Electric. The film was critically acclaimed, receiving a number of Oscar nominations, namely best picture, best director, best actress,

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