Cincinnati, Ohio 1998: Up-and-coming corporate attorney Robert Bilott, a new partner at a prestigious law firm, is visited by one of his grandmother's neighbors from West Virginia. Angry farmer Wilbur O. Tennant asks him to sue chemical multinational DuPont. His cows, according to the accusation, are being poisoned by a nearby landfill. Such a mandate is actually out of the question for Bilott, because he normally represents corporations. When he drives to remote Parkersburg to see for himself, his mind changes abruptly. The lawyer sees shocking evidence of the poisoning of the cattle with his own eyes: black teeth, huge tumors and terrible deformities. With the backing of his law firm boss Tom Terp, he files a lawsuit and gains access to confidential company files. While DuPont routinely plays for time, Bilott uncovers a scandal that is also endangering the health of many people. Much to his wife's chagrin, the idealistic lawyer gets stuck in the case, putting his career and health at risk. And yet he doesn't give up.