Erin Brockovich-Ellis (born June 22, 1960) is an American legal clerk and environmental activist, who, despite the lack of a formal education in the law, was instrumental in building a case against the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) of California in 1993.he case was settled in 1996 for US$ 333 million, the largest settlement ever paid in a direct-action lawsuit in US history. Masry & Vititoe, the law firm for which Brockovich was a legal clerk, received 133.6 million dollars of that settlement, and Brockovich herself was given a bonus of two million dollars.