A David and Goliath fight against industrial water pollution.

Desperate for work, unskilled Erin Brockovich (Julia Roberts), single parent of three, takes a relatively inconsequential job as a legal assistant in a California law firm for low wages. While organising some paperwork pertaining to real estate cases, she is puzzled when she notices medical records in one of the files. On a whim, she does a little investigating of her own, and comes to suspect that land purchased by Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) is the same land on which chromium contamination resulted from PG&E’s environmentally irresponsible actions.

Examination of local water records and interviews with residents ill from exposure to poisonous chromium confirm Erin’s suspicions and she quickly finds herself involved in one of the biggest class action lawsuits in American history against a multi-billion dollar corporation.