New York

Fidelma L. Fitzpatrick
Member Attorney

Fidelma Fitzpatrick litigates environmental contamination claims on behalf of various states, cities, counties and individuals. She currently manages cases seeking to hold the lead paint industry accountable for the childhood lead poisoning crisis and provide restitution and compensation to affected children and families. As a result of her continued work for lead poisoning victims, the Wisconsin State Supreme Court became the first to recognize the legal rights of poisoned children to sue lead pigment manufacturers. She is working on similar litigation filed by the City of New York and the City and County of San Francisco.

Fidelma held a central role in the lead paint trial on behalf of the state of Rhode Island against former corporate manufacturers of lead paint. In recognition of her legal work on the Rhode Island case, Fidelma was named a 2006 Rhode Island Lawyer of the Year by Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly and a finalist for the Public Justice Foundation’s Trial Lawyer of the Year award. She was also selected for inclusion in the 2010 edition of The Best Lawyers in America for her work in mass tort litigation.  

In addition to lead paint cases, Fidelma represents clients in other toxic tort and environmental contamination matters, including property damage and personal injury claims. She also represents plane crash victims, including several families in litigation against multiple corporate defendants regarding the crash of TAM Airlines Flight 3054 in São Paulo, Brazil. Fidelma is member of the firm’s securities practice and has litigated labor and employment issues on behalf of labor unions and employees.

Fidelma began working with Motley Rice attorneys in 1997 on the Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island groundbreaking lawsuits against the tobacco industry. She has co-authored several law articles, including “Access to Justice: The Use of Contingent Fee Arrangements by Public Officials to Vindicate Public Rights” in Cardozo J.L. & Gender (Spring 2008) and “Negligence in the Paint: The Case for Applying the Risk Contribution Doctrine to Lead Litigation” in Pace Environmental Law Review (Fall 2008). She frequently speaks on environmental and mass tort topics at conferences for federal and state court judges, attorneys, academic professionals and law students.

Named a Motley Rice member in 2006, Fidelma serves as a volunteer attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union. She is a member of the American Association for Justice, American Bar Association, Public Justice, Rhode Island Association for Justice and Rhode Island Women’s Bar Association.