Chapter 12: The Negotiation

For three days, Schlichtmann, Conway, Crowley, Kiley, Gordon, Phillips sat at the conference
room at their law firm. They pondered on the best course to pursue in light of the aftermath of the
jury’s verdict with regard to the Woburn case, particularly W.R. Grace. Considering their financial
situation as well as the peculiar date - September 1973 – that the jury had given as to when the
chemicals from W.R. Grace had permeated Well G and H in substantial amounts which would
inevitably mean that Judge Skinner would have to dismiss the three cases of leukemia that occurred
prior to the aforementioned date, Schlichtmann and his partners resolved that proceeding with the
medical phase of the trial would not be advisable. Therefore, they resolved that the best course to
pursue is a settlement agreement with W.R. Grace. Pursuant to this, they all agreed that they would
ask W.R. Grace for a thirty-five million dollar settlement and after possible negotiations, would settle
for twenty-five million dollars. Thereafter, Schlichtmann reached out to Keating who in turn said that
the W.R. Grace executive vice president and general counsel, Alber Eustis would fly up to Boston for
a settlement conference.

The settlement conference, held at Lafayette Hotel, did not get off at a great start as Eustis, “a
nuts-and-bolts man”,1 was not interested nor participated in any small talk or pleasantries. He wanted
to immediately get down to business and asked for the figures for the settlement. After hearing Phillips
deliver the settlement plan, Eustis, to the surprise of all the counsel, seemed pleased and immediately
agreeable, and informed Schlichtmann that he would first need to confer with W.R. Grace’s board of
directors.

Schlichtmann and his team flew down to New York for their settlement negotiation with
Albert Eustis at W.R. Grace’s corporate headquarters. After almost three hours of negotiation,
Schlichtmann informed the rest of the team that W.R. Grace unfortunately offered only “six point six
million, take it or leave it”.2

Thereafter, Schlichtmann and his team started making a new settlement agreement which
would keep Woburn at peace and would give W.R. Grace a positive perception from the public. Their
plan was that “Keating would file a motion for a new trial. Keating would ask the judge to vacate the
verdict on the grounds that it was against the weight of evidence. Schlichtmann would consent to this
motion. He would let the judge know that his consent was part of a settlement agreement. A new trial
would make it look as if Grace wasn’t really guilty. They could even have the families say to the press
that Beatrice and chemical companies in north Woburn were responsible for the contamination of the
wells”.3

After numerous back and forth negotiations with Albert Eustis, the settlement agreement had
stopped at eight million dollars wherein in each Woburn family involved in the case would receive
half a million dollars.

1
Jonathan Harr, A Civil Action (New York: Vintage Books, 1995), 409.
2
Jonathan Harr, A Civil Action, 414.
3
Jonathan Harr, A Civil Action, 422.