Erin Brockovich
A modern-day hero who fights for those who don’t have a voice
Her name is synonymous with strong, tough, stubborn and glamourous. Erin Brockovich is a modern-day hero who fights for those who don’t have a voice.
In 2000, Julia Roberts starred in the Oscar-winning movie based on Erin’s life. The film turned an unknown legal researcher into an icon by showcasing how her persistence was the impelling force behind the largest medical settlement lawsuit in history.
Erin has always loved going head to head with the big boys and was never intimated by their boldness. She learned how to fight from her tight-knit mid-western family as the youngest child of an industrial engineer father and journalist mother. Her parents always believed that she could do anything she set her mind to and was passionate about instilling that into their daughter.
Having spent a few years roaming various colleges, Erin decided that she wanted to live and work in California. She landed a job as a management trainee for K-Mart before deciding to study electrical engineering. Erin went on to enter the Miss Pacific Coast beauty pageant, winning the title. Discovering that beauty pageants weren't her thing, Erin and her family settled in Nevada.
After divorcing, the single mother became a secretary at a brokerage firm where she met and married her second husband. But that marriage was short lived and the now mother of three was solo again.
After being seriously injured in a traffic accident in Reno, Erin moved back to California's San Fernando Valley, and hired Masry & Vititoe to represent her. They won a small settlement but she still needed work so she got a job at their law firm as a file clerk. It was while organizing papers on a pro bono real estate case that Erin first found medical records that would explode into the largest direct action lawsuit in US history.
Erin's exhaustive investigation uncovered that Pacific Gas & Electric had been poisoning the small town of Hinkley's Water for over 30 years. It was because of Erin's unwavering tenacity that PG & E had now been exposed for leaking toxic Chromium 6 into the ground water. This poison affected the health of the population of Hinkley. In 1996, as a result of the largest direct action lawsuit of its kind, spearheaded by Erin and Ed Masry, the utility giant was forced to pay out the largest toxic tort injury settlement in US history: $333 million in damages to more than 600 Hinkley residents.
The story and eventual film made Erin Brockovich a household name. Over time, Erin realized that she could use her notoriety to spread positive messages of personal empowerment and to encourage others to stand up and make a difference.
As President of Brockovich Research & Consulting, Erin is currently involved in numerous environmental projects worldwide. She has requests for her help in ground water contamination complaints in every state of the US, Australia and other international hot spots. She works on cases in California, Texas, Florida, Michigan, Illinois, and Missouri.
Erin is one of the most requested speakers on the international lecture circuit and travels the world for personal appearances.