Law Firm of Motley Rice LLC

Motley Rice LLC Announces Groundbreaking Wisconsin Supreme Court Ruling

MT. PLEASANT, S.C., (July 15, 2005) - Motley Rice LLC, one of the nation's largest all-plaintiffs' litigation firms, today announced a groundbreaking ruling in favor of its client, Steven Thomas, a 15 year-old boy who suffered severe brain damage from lead paint ingestion. According to the ruling, Thomas and other lead-poisoning victims in Wisconsin now have the right to seek to hold the lead pigment industry responsible for their personal injuries under a modified market share liability theory. In the ruling, the court extended the "risk contribution theory" to lead pigment manufacturers.

"Today's ruling is a major step toward holding this industry responsible for the injuries they caused when they sold a product that they knew would harm kids," said Fidelma Fitzpatrick, an attorney with Motley Rice who led the prosecution of this case. "For too long, this industry has shirked its responsibility for the injuries it caused. This ruling makes clear that no industry can escape responsibility for their bad conduct."

The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling supports this sentiment, holding: ". . . the record is replete with evidence that shows the Pigment Manufacturers actually magnified the risk through their aggressive promotion of white lead carbonate, even despite the awareness of the toxicity of lead." (Paragraph 160)

"The problem of lead poisoning is a significant public health catastrophe. The lead pigment manufacturing industry can no longer defer all blame on landlords," said co-counsel Milwaukee attorney Peter Earle. As the Wisconsin Supreme Court stated: "While we agree with the Pigment Manufacturers that landlords are in the best position to contain the dangers of lead pigment in paint once the paint has been applied, landlords are not to blame for the fact that the lead pigment in the paint is poisonous in the first instance." (Paragraph 124)

This is the first time in the United States that lead-poisoned children have been allowed to sue the lead pigment industry for their personal injuries. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lead poisoning statistics show an estimated 890,000 U.S. children ages one to five have elevated blood lead levels. The primary source of lead exposure among children is from lead-based paint and lead-contaminated dust and soil that are found in and around old buildings.

Motley Rice member Robert J. McConnell, who argued the case with Earle before the Wisconsin Supreme Court, stated, "We are pleased with the legal progress made today. We are also proud of the courage, strength and perseverance shown by our client, Steven Thomas and his mother Carol. Steven and other victims of lead-poisoning will now be allowed their day in court to seek justice against corporations that produced and marketed harmful lead-based products."

Defendants in this case include the American Cyanamid Co., Atlantic Richfield Co., ConAgra Grocery Products Co., E.I. DuPont De Nemours and Co., NL Industries Inc., SCM Chemicals, Inc. and Sherwin-Williams Co.

For more information on Motley Rice's lead-poisoning litigation, please contact attorneys Bob McConnell or Fidelma Fitzpatrick at 401-457-7700 or visit http://www.aboutlead.com.

About Motley Rice LLC
Motley Rice LLC is one of the nation's largest plaintiffs' litigation firms. Motley Rice attorneys gained global recognition for their pioneering work on behalf of 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. Motley Rice attorneys continue to seek justice in areas including catastrophic injury; complex case resolution; consumer and commercial fraud; environmental hazards and contamination; medical negligence and medical device defects; occupational disease and toxic torts; and transportation defects. For more information on Motley Rice call 1-800-768-4026.