Erin Brockovich at 20th anniversary of the film “Erin Brockovich” her new battles

Hi, it's Pat Patterson with the Best Los Angeles Award, and I'm here with Erin Brockovich. And we're here to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the film Erin Brockovich, in which you were wonderfully portrayed by Julia Roberts. Yeah. And can you believe it's 20 years? No, that's why I think I just gave an eye roll to everybody. Uh, no. I cannot believe it's been 20 years, and I cannot believe I'm a grandmother of four now. Wow, that's exciting. Wow, see, right? Wow. I remember starting my work in Hinckley, I was just turning 31, and I'll be 60 in June. And so, but the message has lived so long because I think it's about all of us and the importance of our environment and when we see cover-ups or things wrong, that we can stand up and the difference that the judicial system with the communities can make and having a better planet, and that's what's so important to me. And I didn't see that a 20-year longevity would come with that. The legacy of that movement throughout the agencies. I think it's more relevant today, actually, than it was then. Yeah. It's uncomfortable. It's about the collective. And I do talk about this. I do a whole lot of keynote speaking. And, you know, my fourth book's coming out, and it's called Superman's Not Coming. But you know what? We, the people, can do about it. And there isn't any one person that can fix everything that we have going on. But collectively, we can. And so I think it's about turning to ourselves and believing in ourselves and not just assuming there's something out there that's going to fix it for us. Do what you can with what you've got where you are, the Teddy Roosevelt thing. Absolutely. And, you know, I certainly didn't do Hinkley alone. Had the law firms not come together and the people and all of us in sync, it wouldn't have turned out this way. I still work in the environment. I've been involved in the Eliseo Canyon gas leak. I was involved in Flint. I'm involved in PFAS contamination, hexavalent chromium contamination, lead contamination. I mean, the list goes on and on. God bless you. We all know we're at a tipping scale. And I don't think any of us can afford to be complacent and to sit back and think that something else or someone else will do it for us. We have to look within, and we have to join hands. And I think we fight for our survival. So I'm still really kind of doing the same thing, but just on other platforms as well. Hi, it's Pat Patterson with the Best in Los Angeles Award, and I'm here with Tom Mesereau, legendary attorney. Is that okay for me to use that word? That's fair enough. That's good enough. But Tom's certainly been a part of many high-profile cases. I've known Tom Girardi for many years, and Tom Girardi is one of the finest trial lawyers in American history. He's been innovative, he's been creative, he's been courageous. He's done things that young lawyers dream about doing, and he's done them year after year after year. So I'm here to honor Tom Girardi, and he did a fantastic job with Erin Brockovich, but he did a fantastic job in many other cases. We just interviewed him, and we talked about the fact that you, because I know you do a lot of pro bono work, and these kind of high-profile cases get all the press, but it's 2% of what you guys do. Yes. I mean, lawyers, if they're fortunate enough to be in a high-profile case, and I say fortunate enough because I've always said they can take you sky high or take you to the bottom. When you've got media surrounding you and everybody double-checking everything you do and second-guessing everything you do, and what we do is an art, not a science, and there are some lawyers who just again and again walk into the arena and give it a great, creative, unusual go and win most of the time, and that's Tom Girardi, a lawyer, a very generous human being. He's legendary for helping people in distress, for helping law students who are in debt. I mean, this man has done things that a lot of people don't know about that are so gracious. He's a fabulous human being and a fabulous lawyer. It's an honor to know him. It's an honor to have been in the bar with him, and he's a mentor to so many people you wouldn't believe him. That's great, and he just told me his wife's on Broadway. Listen, whatever Tom. . . Are you working on that too? No, I'm not. I mean, don't you want to. . . I'm happy for Tom. It's Pat Patterson here with Tom Mesereau at the Sidney Talk event. I'm thrilled to be talking to Tom Girardi, a famous attorney who was a part of the Aaron Brockovich case, who was also famously portrayed in the film by Peter Coyote, and he didn't remember that. So I want to be as famous as Tom is someday. Peter Coyote, sorry about that. Anyway, Tom. . . You know, I was really mad when I heard it was Peter Coyote. I said, don't we have to get somebody more handsome? Yeah, wasn't it Tom Hanks or somebody? Tom Cruise or one of those Toms. Exactly. Anyway, this Tom. . . Tell me about your life since. . . I mean, it's 20 years since this film came out. Can you believe that? I can't believe it. But you know what? The film was really good. People really didn't have an awareness of environmental issues. You know, I mean, nobody would ever think that they could get hurt just going in the backyard. And this was really . . . We're supposed to trust those companies. They're worried about us, right? You know, right. That's really true. And this gave it an awareness, and all these other . . . I've had a whole ton of toxic cases since. But the one thing that almost all jurors know, Aaron Brockovich. Isn't that great, though? Isn't that a public service? It's too bad that it took something that damaging to . . . No question. But also, there's another important part of the show. I got to know Julia Roberts. And that was pretty good. That's a bonus. That was pretty good, too, yeah. Well, I interviewed Aaron as well. What an amazingly inspirational person she is and was. . . But indeed, this thing had more of a far-reaching look. Yes. It really did. In fact, it did a lot of people's lives. And you try cases now in jurors, toxic cases. Have you ever heard of the Aaron Brockovich case? Every single one of them has. This is the reference point for them. Right. It really is. Yeah. Well, good. So what are you working on now? What's exciting in your life now? Well, we have a lot of these drug cases. Okay. Talc, which causes that ovarian cancer and so forth. Okay, yeah. You know, a bunch of things like that. So still the toxic substances out there, which is such an interesting thing because sometimes we don't know about these things for years later. Right. And it's a hard thing to go back and make those cases, I would imagine. You know, it is. But the one thing I've been amazed about, they all knew it. They all knew it. That's what you've got to capture. Right. And here, now more and more there will be one or two people that say, hey, I can't live this way. Right. I've got to tell the truth. You've got to be a whistleblower. Yeah, or just tell the truth. Yeah, just stand up and stand up for something. But little cases like this really do a lot. All the time around us. No question. So it's great to be a small part of it. It's great to get to know Julie. Yeah. You know, and it's great to know Aaron. But it's too bad it's 20 years. That's a lie. It's got to be five years ago. It was 20 months, and that's my last offer, okay? That's your story, and you're sticking to it. Exactly. Pat Pattison here with Tom Girardi, having a lot of fun at the City Talk event. Talk to you soon.