A Civil Action Position Paper Civil suits are important because they draw attention to a problem. Even though the case was somewhat of a failure, I feel that it had a great societal impact. It did not fulfill the task of being a vehicle for social change, although it had great potential, and did create an important awareness. Social change is a term conveying that a lawsuit of a civil action should result in justifying the impartiality. This does not always happen- like in A Civil Action. The city of Woburn, Massachusetts had a problem: it was being poisoned. No one quite