Erin Brockovich Project - Movie Review Example

?MOVIE PROJECT 26 May MOVIE REVIEW: ERIN BROCKOVICH A. ETHICS ERIN’S PERSONAL INJURY CASE The issue in this first example is whether or not Erin, an unemployed mother of three (3) kids was guilty of extorting money from the rich doctor, by purposely smashing her car against the doctor’s car in order to get a large amount of money for compensation that she can use to support her three (3) kids. The lawyer violated the Rules of Professional Conduct of Lawyers by failure to maintain the integrity of the legal profession by engaging in conduct that is prejudicial to the administration of justice. In the movie, Erin Brokovich lost her personal injury case against a doctor in a car accident. Erin is a single mom, who is unemployed with three (3) kids to support. The lawyer of the defendant committed grave ethical misconduct by criticizing Erin for her current status in life. She was accused by lawyer of extorting money from his client who is a rich doctor because she was desperate to find a way to earn money to support her kids. According to the doctor, from the moment Erin saw the doctor’s expensive car, a Jaguar, she saw it as a “meal ticket” or an opportunity to earn money by ramming her car against his car in order to get compensated. This act of the doctor is conduct unbecoming because she misjudged the Erin based on her status in life because she was penniless and underprivileged, thus not giving her a fair trial. She was prejudged because of her profile, an unemployed mother with 3 kids to support, broke and $17,000 in debt. She was disfavored because of her status in life and not by the facts of the case, making the jury render a decision not in her favor. Therefore, the lawyer of the doctor committed a violation of his duty as a lawyer by not giving Erin a fair trial which is prejudicial in the administration of justice. 2. THE BIG CASE During the investigation of the case, there was a violation of the business ethics issues and corporate social responsibility committed by the corporation, PG&E and its employees. The company and their employees manifested deception, dishonesty and bribery in their conduct when they were led residents of Hinkley to believe that the water in their place is safe, when in truth and in fact, there was a dangerous substance in the water in their place. The water was contaminated by a substance was known as hexavalent chromium or chromium 6, which is in a high level, which can be toxic and harmful to human beings. This toxic substance can cause serious bodily harm and diseases like chronic headaches and nosebleed, respiratory and liver disease, chronic heart failure/disease, reproductive organ failure, bone deterioration, and even the fatal cancer disease. It was evident that cheating was present when the people were made to believe that the water was good for consumption and the water where their kids swam was safe. It was later discovered by Erin and her companions that this problem has been present all along way back 1996. The doctors who treated the patients also committed violation of the Code of Medical Ethics when they committed dishonesty by cheating on their patients by making them believe that they were healthy and well and on their way to recovery, when in truth and in fact, they were not getting well. The doctors were paid a hefty sum of money by PG&E to tell lies to their patients to convince the patients that they are safe and being taken care of. The employees of PG&E also committed bribery on the people by offering money to drop the charges against PG&E and for them to testify in court that their health problems were not in any way related to PG&E. PG&E corporation also committed violations on their duty to uphold the corporate social responsibility by violation of environmental laws and bringing danger and harm to the community. The corporation, through desperate measure also resorted to the use of threat and harassment on Erin to stop her from investigating the case. This manifests unethical behavior on the part of PG&E by employing force and intimidation to a private individual. Hence, PGE corporation and its employees and the doctors committed grave ethical issues of direct bribery, dishonesty, force, intimidation and deception against the residents of Hinkley. In the end of the movie, the issue was resolved with $333 million paid to the people of Hinkley. B. PROFESSIONAL SKILLS The Ten critical skills of a paralegal are the following (Statsky, 2005). 1. Identifying legal issues Erin was able to identify the legal issues when she conducted a thorough research on the current situation of the residents of Hinkley. She was able to identify the violations made by the company PG&E and its employees, and the violation of the code of medical ethics by the doctors who attended to the patients from Hinkley. 2. Breaking rules into elements Erin was able to break down the rules into its elements, by applying the law to the given facts and analyzed what violations were made by the corporation against the community of Hinkley. 3. Applying rules to facts Erin successfully applied the applicable laws and rules to the given facts of the case and made thorough research and study. 4. Interviewing clients Erin made an effort to go to the houses of the victims of Hinkley to get their stories straight from them and obtain hard core facts and evidence to establish a strong case against PG&E. 5. Investigating facts Erin also investigated well the facts of the case, by carefully studying the issues involved and how to correlate them to the applicable law and rights violated by PG&E. 6. Digesting discovery documents Erin was able to use discovery tools to establish the case through the documents relevant for trial proper and those pertinent material concerning PG&E’s actions to magnify the gravity of their offense in defense of the residents of Hinkley. 7. Providing litigation assistance Erin was able to provide litigation assistance to the clients and helping their lawyer Ed Masry to defend their clients, the Hinkley community, knowing that they do not have the means to pay for legal assistance. 8. Researching the law Erin made a through research on the applicable laws, spending time reading books and documents she gathered to prepare for trial and confidence the judge and the jury that PG&E was liable for under the law. 9. Drafting documents; and Erin also prepared documents to present their pieces of evidence during trial. She was diligent enough to connect the pieces evidence with the law, which are relevant and important to build their case. 10. Representing clients at administrative agencies where authorized by law. Erin represented the clients in the specific government agencies who are instrumental in helping the Hinkley residents to win their a favorable decision against PG&E and its employees. C. PROFESSIONALISM 1. Professional dress Erin is a woman who dress provocatively. She has a great body and is always enhanced by form fitting clothing which most often than not causes her to be judged and treated unfairly with the clothes that she wears. Her clothes are inappropriate because of the fact that she works for a lawyer and in order for her to appear reputable. 2. Communication Erin communicated well with the residents of Hinkley during the investigation and by interviewing them in a language that is easy to understand and clear terms. 3. Rapport. Erin was able to establish a great working relationship with the people from Hinkley by helping them with their case. She also had a great working relationship with her lawyer boss. 4. Office politics. Erin is a woman who dresses attractively and provocatively which becomes a disadvantage for her because her colleagues maintain a wrong perception on her and do not take her seriously. She is often prejudged in the office as someone who is incompetent because of the way they perceived her to be. D. FLORIDA RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE 1. Modes of Discovery. These are the following modes of discovery used in the movie: a.) Interrogatories are written questions from Plaintiff, the Hinkley residents were made against the Defendant. PG&E. b.) Deposition is a  procedure where verbal questions are asked a Plaintiff or Defendant for immediate response. These Depositions are recorded by a court reporter, who swears the person to tell the truth before starting to propound questions (US Legal). c. ) Production of Documents is the method of obtaining documents from the other party relevant to the case such as all documents a party intends to introduce at trial. Erin conducted research work by obtaining relevant evidence to be sued during trial (US Legal). d.) Requests for Admissions are there were written questions made to defendant to admit or deny that they abused the people of Hinkley through deception and fraud. e. Objections may be made to all discovery questions if the questions are not relevant, or likely to lead to the discovery of relevant evidence (US Legal). 2. Trial and Presentation of Evidence Trial Preparation and Trial Proper. Modes of Discovery were used such as interrogatories, depositions and request of admissions. Experts like doctors were presented during the trial for the discovery of facts and presentation of the doctor’s expert opinion to establish the case. By interrogatories, any party may require any other party to identify an expert witness at trial and to state the subject matter on which the expert is supposed to testify and to state the substance of the facts and opinions to which the expert is expected to testify and a summary of the grounds for each opinion (US Legal). 3. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure also have pre-trial and use the same modes of discovery like interrogatories, depositions and request of admissions, thereafter, trial ensued, which were also part of the civil procedure followed by the movie. References: Statsky, William P. Essentials of Paralegalism. Fifth Edition. Thomas Delmar Learning. USA, 2005. Print. US Legal.com. Discovery. Retrieved on April 6, 2011, from Read More