Anne Anderson Argumentative Essay

A seemingly uncorrelated death of a child becomes an attack on two businesses that brought forth unwanted attention. It reveals how corporations can truly neglect their surroundings and the safety of citizens without remorse. In the quaint town of Woburn, Massachusetts, the death of Anne Anderson’s son due to leukemia quickly transformed from a personal tragedy to an extensive lawsuit. Anne Anderson approached Jan Schlichtmann, a personal injury lawyer, to tackle the case. From the beginning, Anne makes it clear that she does not want money, she simply wants an apology. At first, Jan rejects the case because he does not see money being made from the case. However, after a fateful encounter with a police due to speeding, Jan had the chance to scan the environment which promptly changed his mind

Jan acknowledges his situation, “The whole idea of lawsuits is to settle, to compel the other side to settle” [1]. In fact, he uses this reasoning to his advantage by demanding a total of 320 million dollars from both companies. The case is drawn out and both businesses stubbornly refuse to take responsibility, Cheeseman arguing that, “These chemicals never reached Wells G and H - we will show that. And they never made anyone sick. We will show that, too” [1] while Fascher, representing Beatrice Foods, explaining that, “Unless you've proven that poisons reached the wells, there's no case” [1]. Eventually, Skinner decides to ask the jury three questions that will determine the outcome of the trial. It has been ultimately decided that Beatrice Foods is not guilty. On the other hand, Jan is forced to take 8 million dollars from Grace, which barely covers for the expenses Jan and his team had sacrificed for the trial. In the end, it is evident that the money the affected families were reimbursed with was largely due to the differing natures of lawyers and judges that took part in the