MovieChat Forums > A Civil Action (1999) Discussion > Should have taken the 20 million

Should have taken the 20 million

posted 10 years ago by redban02
5 replies | jump to latest

He should have taken the 20 million that Duvall offered him.

[–] hnewstadt 10 years ago

Absolutely. That was nuts.

[–] hnewstadt 10 years ago

He just wanted to beat him.

[–] chrisjohnson-2 10 years ago

Supposedly, that did not happen in real life. However, Beatrice had been making sizeable settlement offers and Schlichtmann walked away from the settlement talks. He certainly did let his ego get in the way, one way or another.

[–] old-skool101 9 years ago

Deal didn't include the 60 million dollar clean up.

A lawyer with a conscience is a dangerous mix.

[–] setanta- 9 years ago

[He should have taken the 20 million that Duvall offered him.]

He should have, but not because the jury ended up deciding against him. He should have settled because his firm did not have the money to continue to try the case. So he was going to end up settling anyway, but then he was going to be the one in the weaker position. If he improved on the twenty million offer it would only be marginally, and if Facher got the sense that Schlichtmann needed to make a deal then he could even offer less.