A Civil Action is a
1998 film, starring
John Travolta (as plaintiff's attorney
Jan Schlichtmann) and
Robert Duvall, based on the book of the same name by
Jonathan Harr. Both the book and the film are based on a true story that took place in
Woburn,
Massachusetts in the 1980s.
The real life case at the heart of the book and film is
Anne Anderson, et al., v. Cryovac, Inc., et al.. The first
reported decision in the case is at 96 F.R.D. 431 (denial of defendants' motion to dismiss).