COMMUNITY
cy and are holding manufacturers responsible for what they put in their products . By his peers , Bilott was often seen as a “ traitor ,” switching sides from the defense to the plaintiff ’ s table , but Bilott encouraged us to abandon the adversarial view : “ We are lawyers , fighting to do the right thing , whether on the plaintiff ’ s or on the defendant ’ s side .”
Of course , Bilott was asked about the film adaptation of his story , “ Dark Waters ”, with Mark Ruffalo starring as Bilott . Fun fact : Mark Ruffalo actually approached Bilott suggesting creating the movie and offered to both produce and star in it . Bilott explained that he was on the set every day , making sure everything was depicted as accurate as possible . “ For example , I had to make them tone down depositions – they had added yelling for effect which never happened in my questioning ,” said Bilott . Much of the filming took place at his firm : “ One of my colleagues in the firm played a DuPont attorney ,” said Bilott , chuckling . Many of the individuals who were impacted by the effects of the chemical pollution can also be seen in the movie . Bilott ’ s passion , still flaming after all these years , is inspiring and infectious . During the book discussions in the meetings preceding the Author ’ s Talk , we discussed how difficult it was for Bilott though to take on a company as big and as popular as DuPont , and how cumbersome it must have been for Bilott to sift through tons of documents , reading the body of language of his opponents in depositions , and the pros and cons of settlement - as fellow lawyers , we could not image the task at hand . In the interest of saving the community , Bilott made sacrifices he could not be compensated for his late nights at the office , health issues , and missed family time . As they say , “ not all heroes wear capes ”, instead , this hero wears a suit and carries a briefcase . “ Though it was my responsibility to advocate for the growing number of clients I had taken on around the country , I could no longer pretend that my interest in this was strictly as an attorney pursuing a court case . I had become that person I had once looked at with puzzlement , if not bemusement : I was a man with a passionate cause , a fighter against what I saw as a massive public health threat . Somehow I had ended up trying to save the world , or at least a part of it .” – Robert Bilott
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