The much-anticipated bathroom scene in this movie, where Rohr (Dustin Hoffman) confronts Fitch (Gene Hackman) is the first dialogue in a movie between Hoffman and Hackman. It was written while the rest of the movie was being filmed, after someone on the crew found out that the two, though they had been friends since 1956, had never starred in a movie together. It was finally shot on a single day at the end, several weeks after Hackman and Hoffman had finished their other work.
This is Gene Hackman's and Dustin Hoffman's only film together. At the Pasadena Playhouse, they were classmates, and were both voted "Least Likely to Succeed."
According to Dustin Hoffman when he and Gene Hackman filmed the last of their scenes, Hackman said to Hoffman "Let's get drunk."
While the notion of infiltrating a jury in the manner of Nicholas Easter is obviously intriguing, various systems exist to prevent it. For example, in most jurisdictions (including New Orelans), prospective jurors are required to have permanently resided within that jurisdiction for at least one year prior to selection.
In the novel, the lawsuit is filed against a tobacco company. This screenplay was in development for several years and, after the release of L'initié (1999), all subsequent scripts involved a lawsuit against a gun manufacturer. Although, the movie contains various references to tobacco, for example, Nick Easter's advice to the maintenance man at the beginning.