don't ask that on mondays, rosalind.
oh, jesus. who's responsible for his pain and suffering this time?
what do you think? what's this?
carlos isn't a friend; he's a client.
whoa. remind me.
you shouldn't judge, brenda.
erin -- hi. sorry you had to wait. here, sit down, sit down.
jesus, you poor thing. well, listen, you came to the right place. whoever did this to you made one hell of a mistake, and you and me, we're gonna make him pay for it.
why don't you tell me what happened?
yeah. i know.
if you hadn't used profanity --
i told you the questions might get a little personal --
okay -- let's try and settle down here.
i'm sorry, erin.
damn it! brenda!
what the hell is this doing here?
i didn't mean for you to leave them in the middle of the floor. jesus. look at me. what do i have this afternoon?
what's she doing here?
hey -- mario -- what's she doing here?
erin! how's it going?
you did? wow, sorry about that. listen, mario's a little not so bright. he seems to think that you said --
i never lied. i may have miscalculated -- that happens sometimes, but --
i'm sorry about that. really. but --
i'd love to help, erin, but i'm sorry, i have a full staff right now, so --
okay, look. if you really want to apply for a job here, you can do it the way everyone else does. send in a rsum, make an --
no benefits.
yeah?
jane's the office manager. she handles payroll and petty cash. but she leaves early on fridays.
oh, for christ's sake .
all i have is hundreds.
bullshit, you don't.
damn it! brenda! brenda!
where's anna?
oh. huh. well, look, i got this file i need valued. real estate thing. a lady has some property next to a pg&e plant that pg&e wants to buy. i need to know what to ask for it.
you do know how to do that, don't you?
good.
you're a girl.
how come you're not at lunch with the girls? you're a girl.
erin, you've been gone for a week.
that's not how we work here. you don't just leave a message and take off.
okay, enough -- now, look, erin -- this incident aside, i don't think this is the right place for you. so what i'm gonna do is make a few calls on your behalf. find you something else, okay?
come on, i'm trying to help here.
brenda! brenda!
yeah, ed masry here .  she doesn't work here anymore. who's this?
i got an interesting call this afternoon. it was from a dr. frankel.
he wanted you to know the legal limit for hexavalent chromium, is .05 parts per million. and that at the rate you mentioned, .58, it could be responsible for the cancers in that family you asked about. the irvings.
look, i'm sorry. you were gone. i just assumed you were off having fun.
i don't know. maybe cause you look like someone who has a lot of fun.
so what's the story on this thing? this cancer stuff?
fine.
but, pg&e told her about the chromium?
so what made you think it was?
what medical records?
i didn't see any medical records in there.
that document you found, the one that says it was the bad chromium -- you didn't happen to make a copy did you?
lemme see it, will you?
look, erin, this is not the way i do business, this extortion nonsense.
okay. a 5% raise, and --
a ten percent raise and benefits. but that's it. i'm drawing the line.
this is the only thing you found?
find out.
fax these to this number, okay?
all of them.
i'm telling you, the minute brenda sent the fax -- i'm talking the second she pressed that send button -- pg&e claims department is on the phone to me, scheduling a meeting.
it sure as hell sounded like they were sitting up and taking notice.
250,000?
what about in terms of medical expenses? 250,000 doesn't come close to what this family's gonna have to spend on doctors.
you're kidding, right? look at these readings for christ's sake. pg&e's own technicians documented toxic levels of hexavalent chromium in those test wells, on numerous occasions.
everything the irvings have had is a proven reaction to exposure to hexavalent chromium. they've had .
wait a minute -- i thought we were negotiating here.
jesus christ. i will present your offer to my clients. i doubt they'll accept it.
thanks. i'll keep it in mind.
that wasn't an offer. a million would've been an offer. when they send the god damn mail clerk down to jerk me off, waste my time, it's a fuck you.
because they can. you heard that kid -- they have 28 billion dollars at their disposal. they can afford to waste all the time in the world.
what, you think i'm made of money?
tell you what, why don't you go on over to reception, tell them i said mario should take you to the airport.
yeah. isn't that a shame?
it's sinatra's world, we just live in it.
hello? .  hi, babys. baby's fine. yes, i did. i did, too, you just didn't feel it.
you think i could leave without kissing my babys? okay, here you go.
bye-bye .  bye-bye .  no, you. okay, together. bye-bye.
to establish a statute of limitations. see, in a case like this, you only have a year from the time you first learn about the problem to file suit. so pg&e figures, we'll let the cat out of the bag -- tell the people the water's not perfect; if we can ride out the year with no one suing, we'll be in the clear forever.
it's okay. we're not suing. all we're doing is using this information to get you a real nice purchase price on your house, and get you two -- -- a comparable retroactive bonus added to your sale price. this way, and pg&e can still look good to their shareholders, cause they're not involved in an ugly lawsuit; all they're doing is buying a little property.
my fee's forty percent of whatever you get awarded.
erin --
erin --
then i don't get anything either.
all right, then. let's hit the road.
so, what's, uh .  what's new?
hunh-uh. absolutely not.
because i said no. look -- the only reason pg&e's even talking to us is cause this is a quiet little real estate dispute. we add plaintiffs, and suddenly we're in the middle of a toxic tort -- with a statute problem -- against a massive utility. no, thank you.
it's not about working hard --
-- it's about being realistic. something like this, erin -- it could take forever. they're a huge corporation. they'd completely bury us in paperwork. i'm just one guy with a shitty little p.i. firm.
i know how dna works, erin --
oh, you do? with all your legal expertise, you believe that?
damn it.
how many families we talking about here?
you think there's more?
this is a whole different ball game, erin. a much bigger deal.
kinda like david and what's-his-name's whole fucking family. okay, here's the deal -- if, and only if, you find me the evidence to back all this up -- i'll do it. i'll take it on.
yeah, yeah. remind me of that when i'm filing for bankruptcy.
what now?
is that what i think it is?
you wanna talk about --
i don't remember seeing any ponds up there.
and that's what caused the contamination?
they skipped that step.
jesus. i don't even wanna ask what you did to make this melendez guy talk.
no shit.
erin -- lemme tell you something. if i'da put three researchers on this, i wouldn't expect them to dig up all the information you got here. this is some damn good work.
hey, i got a staff to pay, plus rent, plus i haven't billed a minute of my time since i started on this case, so you can quit hitting me up like i'm rich or something.
we've got the pg&e fuckers in hinkley by the balls. but nobody's getting rich unless we can pin this on the corporate pg&e fuckers in san francisco.
pg&e corporate is claiming they had no way of knowing what was going on in hinkley.
show me the document that proves that.
then they didn't know. and if they didn't know, we can't hit 'em for punitive damages. and punitive damages is where the money is.
i like this case.
me too. that's why i like it. it's been a long time since i had a case i cared about.
i would now.
hey. i like working with you.
when'd you start calling me ed?
i'll show you what we did back here --
from their tone of voice on the phone, i'd say they're taking us more seriously.
they're trying to intimidate us. tell them to wait in the conference room.
counselors --
erin --
hey. a new plaintiff called, wants to meet you. i told him we'd be out there thursday.
he said he'd be at the gas station at six.
what? who?
beer, please.
what kind of truck?
he's gone. did you get a license plate? or a make?
i was just asking. are you all right?
jesus, you look like shit. when was the last time you had a decent night's sleep?
don't worry. i'm getting two rooms.
lock the door every which way you can. and if there's anything -- funny sound, whatever -- pound on the wall. i'll come right over.
i'm triple locking my door, so don't even think of trying to take advantage.
i'm sorry, i'm gonna have to put you on hold for just one second here -- do you mind?
oh, jesus. you wanna tell me what the problem is here, or --
erin, you're a big girl. if you got a problem with jane, work it out for yourself. i don't have time to deal with --
is that what you want?
i'll see what i can do.
well, you go threatening to leave, i can't take any chances. you're the only person around who understands what i'm doing. things come up, i gotta know i got someone to turn to.
things like the head counsel for pg&e calling me with an offer. 20 million, plus attorney's fees. take it or leave it.
it's about 50 thousand per plaintiff.
i'm thinking .  i wish someone else had to make this decision. 50 thousand bucks is more than any other california toxic plaintiff has gotten. ever. but .
and it's less than pocket change for pg&e.
maybe. but maybe not. we still don't have anything linking this to pg&e corporate. plus, there's the statute problem. plus, we're way short on manpower, so we'd need to bring on more lawyers .
it's eight million dollars, erin. eight million dollars.
i knew i put up with your bullshit for a reason.
this guy, erin -- he's got more toxic tort experience than anyone else in california. he's huge. and he said yes to me on the first phone call, right off the bat. that's it. the big one. they've got the top three floors.
don't joke. they might. so do me a favor and behave yourself for once. ed masry to see kurt potter.
theresa, hey -- this is erin brockovich.
yesterday.
it's pg&e saying to the judge that we don't have a case. their lawyers go --
sixty-nine. we've got good answers to all of 'em.
reasons pg&e thinks it shouldn't go to --
corey.
he's got a reputation for doing all his --
bullshit. it was a misunderstanding. but instead of handling it politely, instead of treating her with respect --
because that's how people treat each other!
gee, i wonder why.
right.
50-400 million dollars isn't a whole hell of a lot of money for your company, mr. corbin.
could i -- just take a brief break here for a moment? i'll be right back.
erin, it's just a meeting.
look, you said you weren't feeling great. i thought you should rest.
okay, look. it's an important meeting. kurt thought, if it was just lawyers --
look, this is serious now. they're talking serious money --
you're emotional. you're erratic. you say any god damn thing that comes into your head. and i'm not saying that's bad. that can be great; that can be a lot of fun --
okay, now you're making this personal, and it isn't --
no one's taking anything --
don't give me that. you've gotten plenty. you've been well-paid; you've gotten lots of perks .
i'm not gonna fire you. i wanted to. but then you got sick, and that woulda made me look like a shit. you embarrassed me, erin.
uh-huh.
with nothing linking it to the corporate offices yet, i'd say we'll end up on the lower end of that. still a lot of money.
because. they know the evidence; they know they're gonna lose a jury trial. maybe they wouldn't lose 400 million bucks, but once you factor in all they'd spend on this case in the next ten years, it makes a lot of --
five years, maybe, for a trial. double that for the appeal.
hey, that's not so bad. compare it to the love canal -- that was twenty years ago, and those people still haven't seen a dime. so in legal terms, ten years is --
i know. we're having a meeting, it's all set up --
tuesday at seven, at the hinkley firehouse.
you're not gonna be there.
this isn't doctor's orders. it's mine. i'm saying you can't come.
because kurt doesn't want to work with you. he thinks you're a loose cannon.
erin --
don't come, erin. i mean it. if you do, i'm gonna have to fire you. just .  concentrate on getting well.
i think .  kurt's right. we shouldn't speculate.
erin? what are you --
ho - ly - shit.
hey!
i don't know what to say.
i was wrong.
i did. both.
the luckiest son of a bitch in the universe, erin. the luckiest son of a bitch in history.
but i know you're not gonna quit on me.
cause you got a little voice in your head saying, do the right thing. give him another chance.
you see your office?
oh, okay. here it comes.
the extortion, the threats .
"i can always find someplace else to work. someplace that'll pay me a fortune and give me a view of the french riviera "
okay, fine. fine you backed me into a corner again. you're holding me hostage .
take it.
the firm took in sixty. that's three percent. seemed like a fair bonus to me.
oh, now i suppose you're gonna say it's not enough. well, tough, erin. too goddamn bad. cause this is absolutely, positively where i draw the line.