"It's like this. A dead plaintiff is rarely worth more than a living severely-maimed plaintiff. However, if it's a long, slow, agonizing death as opposed to a quick drowning or car wreck, the value can rize considerably. A dead adult in his 20s is generally worth less than one who is middle aged. A dead woman less than a dead man. A single adult less than one who's married. Black less than white. Poor less than rich. The perfect victim is a white male professional, 40 years old, at the height of his earning power, struck down at his prime. And the most imperfect: well, in the calculus of personal injury law, a dead child is worth the least of all."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
1990s American filmsDrama filmsFilms based on true storiesLegal filmsFilms based on non-fiction books
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Imported from EN Wikiquote
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/A_Civil_Action_(film)
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
A Civil Action (film)
19 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by A Civil Action (film) →
Related Quotes
"The odd's of a plaintiff's lawyer winning in civil court are two to one against. Think about that for a second. Your …"
"I can appreciate the theatrical value of several dead kids. I mean, like that. Obviously, that's good. That is all th…"
"[to law students] Now, the single greatest liability a lawyer can have is pride. Pride... Pride has lost more cases t…"
"[to secretary] Every credit card application we send in, we get two more in the mail. Here's one from some bank I've …"
"John Travolta - Jan Schlichtmann"
"Robert Duvall - Jerome Facher"
"Tony Shalhoub - Kevin Conway"
"William H. Macy - James Gordon"
"Zeljko Ivanek - Bill Crowley"
"Bruce Norris - William Cheeseman"