Mount Pleasant, SC - (May 31, 2006) 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.
