South Carolina
Joseph F. Rice
Founding Member Attorney
Motley Rice co-founding member Joe Rice is recognized as a skillful and innovative negotiator of complex litigation settlements. As lead private counsel for 26 State Attorneys General, he played a central role in crafting the landmark Master Settlement Agreement, the largest civil settlement in U.S. history, in which the tobacco industry agreed to reimburse states for smoking-related health costs. Over the past two decades, Joe has also been recognized for his role in structuring some of the most significant resolutions of asbestos liabilities on behalf of victims injured by asbestos-related products.
Currently, Joe directs the Motley Rice securities litigation team in 10(b)5 securities fraud cases, shareholder derivative cases and actions against proposed merger and acquisition transactions. He is sought after by investment funds for guidance on strategies to increase shareholder value, enhance corporate governance reforms, and recover assets through litigation.
Joe also continues to negotiate on behalf of the firm’s clients in securities and consumer fraud, transportation disasters, human rights, 9/11 and anti-terrorism cases. He has held a crucial role in executing the strategic mediations and/or settlements in 58 aviation liability and damages cases against multiple defendants on behalf of families of the victims of the 9/11 attacks who opted out of the Victims Compensation Fund. In addition to providing greater answers, accountability and recourse to victims’ families, the resulting settlements shattered a settlement matrix developed and utilized for decades by other aviation firms and the airline industry.
Joe remains a key player in developing and negotiating the structured settlements of asbestos manufacturers emerging from bankruptcy and has worked on numerous Asbestos Creditor Committees, Negotiating Committees and Trust Advisory Committees. Joe was chair or co-chair of the Asbestos Creditor Committee in several bankruptcies, including AWI, Federal Mogul and Pittsburgh Corning. In addition, he was the lead negotiator for the Owens Corning bankruptcy without a committee and served on the Negotiating Committee of many others including the US Gypsum and W.R. Grace bankruptcies.
Described as one of the nation’s “five most feared and respected plaintiffs’ lawyers in corporate America” in a poll of defense counsel and legal scholars conducted by Corporate Legal Times, Joe was cited time after time as one of the toughest, sharpest and hardest-working litigators they have faced. As the article notes, “For all his talents as a shrewd negotiator ... Rice has earned most of his respect from playing fair and remaining humble.” Since 2007, he has been named to each annual edition of The Best Lawyers in America, and he was also included in the 2008, 2009 and 2010 editions of South Carolina Superlawyers. In 2006, Joe was described by The American Lawyer as "one of the shrewdest businessmen practicing law." He combines a meticulous and exhaustive capacity for number-crunching with a creative mind, thinking outside the box to solve difficult problems and win justice for clients.
In 1998, Joe received the President’s Award of the National Association of Attorneys General. In 1999 and 2000, he served on the faculty at Duke University School of Law as a Senior Lecturing Fellow and has taught classes at the University of South Carolina on the art of negotiating. Joe serves his community through several organizations, including First Tee of Greater Charleston, the Center for Birds of Prey, the U.S. Marine Corps Toys for Tots Foundation and the Dee Norton Lowcountry Children’s Center, for which he co-chaired the inaugural Campaign for the Next Child. He is a member of the American Association for Justice, American Bar Association, American Inns of Court and South Carolina Association for Justice.