Rene Lafayette

Attorney Jan Schlitchmann discusses his life’s work with the students of LHS’s Street and Practical Law class.

Students of Lafayette’s Street and Practical Law II class welcomed well-known environmental lawyer Jan Schlichtmann as a guest speaker on Tuesday.

Schlitchmann gave the students many insights and advice he earned from his time as a lawyer, and from his most famous case based in Woburn MA, made into a film starring John Travolta, called “A Civil Action.”

Schlichtmann graduated from the University of Mass Amherst, and later from Cornell University. He spoke about how he wanted to become a philosopher before choosing to become a lawyer. 

He explained that after college, he wanted to be a philosopher before realizing there weren’t many philosophers in today’s world, so he opted to be a lawyer instead. 

Before opening a private practice, he served as special counsel on the U.S. House Special Select Committee on Assassinations, and then went to work for civil liberties and environmental law.  

The highlight of his speech at the school was the discussion of his famous Woburn case and how it taught him many lessons in his legal career. 

The case involved allegations of W.R. Grace and Beatrice Foods polluting the environment, and harming local families. It became the subject of a movie and a bestselling book A Civil Action. Schlichtman told the students how this case took a severe personal toll on him, leaving him drained financially.

Despite all the hardships that he faced, he emphasized the importance of perseverance and integrity in both law and life. He told the students to remain committed to their values and to think about the impact of their actions.  

He was also involved in a suit against Ciba Specialty Chemicals, Union Carbide, and United Water Resources, for allegedly polluting an area in New Jersey, leading to a rise in children’s cancers.

While he was speaking, Schlichtmann told the students about the importance of being honest with yourself and the people around you. He said, “Be truthful to yourself, and with the people that you are (with), and with your society…without the truth, our lives are all in peril. ”