Schlichtmann is addressed by a group of families. When investigating the seemingly non-profiting case, he finds it to be a major environmental issue that has a lot of impact potential. A leather production company could be responsible for several deadly cases of leukemia, but also is the main employer for the area. But the lawyers of the leather company's mother company are not easy to get to, and soon Schlichtmann and his friends find themselves in a battle of mere survival. Schlichtmann and his three colleagues set out to have the company forced to decontaminate the affected areas, and of course to sue for a major sum of compensation. Schlichtmann disbursed the settlement to the families, excluding expenses and attorney's fees. When some of the families thought Schlichtmann had overbilled expenses, he acquiesced and surrendered more of his fee. Schlichtmann would later file for bankruptcy after losing his condo and car and living in his office for a time. "The odds of a plaintiff's lawyer winning in civil court are two to one 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, only 12,000 or 11/2 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 who have something to prove end up ensnared in them. Now when I say prove, I don't mean about the case, I mean about themselves." Jan Schlichtmann is a tenacious lawyer. In the course of the lawsuit, Schlichtmann gets other attorneys to assist him. He spends lavishly as he had in his prior lawsuits, but the length of the discovery process and trial soon stretch his assets to their limit. "A Civil Action" movie John Travolta

The character has a strong need to be respected, and to be treated with the deference due his position. In addition, he needs to be seen as knowledgeable and truthful. If not given sufficient respect, or treated as ignorant/lying, he becomes depressed or angry, and will attempt to regain it. The character can often be tempted to do unwise things with the promise of renewed respect or credibility. Other Psychological Limitations will determine how far he is willing to go. The old joke says that when a Cynic smells flowers, he immediately looks around for the funeral. A character with this Disadvantage has a hard time believing in virtue and altruism in others. He believes that when you boil things down to their basics, people only do things that are in their best interests, and everyone has an ulterior motive for everything. This character mistrusts "random acts of kindness", as they make him wonder what the other person wants from him. he tends to be sneering, sarcastic, and have a hard time taking earnest endeavors seriously. he can also be rather self-righteous, especially when his cynicism is proven right. At the Strong level of commitment, the character must make an Ego Roll in order to avoid acting in this manner. At Total, the character cannot do so except under the most extreme of circumstances.