2006 Bertram Yaffe Award for Excellence in Public Health Awarded to Attorney Jack McConnell.

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. -- Motley Rice LLC, one of the nation's largest all plaintiffs' litigation firms, today announced that attorney and founding member John "Jack" J. McConnell Jr., was awarded the Rhode Island Public Health Association's (RIPHA) Bertram Yaffe Award for excellence in public health for 2005 for his role in the recent landmark victory for the state of Rhode Island against the manufacturers of lead-based pigment in paint.

McConnell was one of the leading trial counsels for the State of Rhode Island in the recent landmark Rhode Island lead poisoning case. After a four-month trial, the jury found three former manufacturers of lead paint liable for creating a significant public health crisis in the state by manufacturing, distributing and promoting lead for use in paint products. The verdict, reached on February 22, 2006, called for the defendants to abate the nuisance. According to the Rhode Island Department of Health, nearly 100 Rhode Island children are still lead-poisoned each and every month. The verdict was the first in a lead paint case to go against the lead-based pigment industry in nearly 20 years of litigation across the country and is a monumental step in helping permanently abate lead paint. It was this contribution that earned McConnell national attention from the APHA.

Established in 1995, RIPHA is a non partisan, membership-based organization affiliated with the American Public Health Association (APHA), the oldest and largest organization of public health professionals in the world. The Bertram Yaffe Award, commemorating Bertram Yaffe, President of the Erna Yaffe Foundation, is given to individuals who have made significant contributions to improving public health nation-wide. Sponsors of the award praised McConnell stating, "This award is presented to an individual with long standing service to the advancement of public health in Rhode Island. Your work in the fight against manufacturers of lead paint, tobacco and asbestos and other issues has certainly raised RIPHAs awareness of your leadership in public health."

After earning a Juris Doctor from Case Western Reserve University School of Law in 1983, McConnell worked as a law clerk for the Rhode Island Supreme Court. McConnell practiced law at the firm of Mandell, Goodman, Famiglietti & Schwartz until he began working with Motley Rice attorneys in 1986. He is a frequent speaker on national environmental litigation issues and is chair of the 2006 Lead Litigation Conference to be held in Boston on June 5-6, 2006.

About Motley Rice LLC

Motley Rice LLC has gained widespread national recognition for its success in representing asbestos victims, the State Attorneys General in their landmark litigation against Big Tobacco, and the 9/11 families in their groundbreaking lawsuit against terrorist financiers. The firm is headquartered in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina and has additional offices in Barnwell, South Carolina; Providence, Rhode Island; Hartford, Connecticut; and Atlanta, Georgia. Motley Rice attorneys continue to seek justice in the areas of: catastrophic injury; complex case resolution; securities and consumer fraud; environmental hazards and contamination; medical negligence and defects; occupational disease and toxic torts; and transportation defects and disasters. For more information on Motley Rice LLC contact attorney Jack McConnell at 1-800-768-4026 or visit http://www.motleyrice.com.