Ronald L. Motley (October 21, 1944 – August 22, 2013) was an American trial attorney and a principal of Motley Rice LLC–a law firm based in Mount Pleasant,

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

. He is best known for leading lawsuits against tobacco and asbestos companies.

Early life and education

Motley grew up in

North Charleston, South Carolina North Charleston is a city in Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester counties in the U.S. state of South Carolina.City Planning Department (2008-07)City of North Charleston boundary map. City of North Charleston. Retrieved January 21, 2011. As ...

, where his father owned an

Amoco Amoco ( ) is a brand of filling station, fuel stations operating in the United States and owned by British conglomerate BP since 1998. The Amoco Corporation was an American chemical and petroleum, oil company, founded by Standard Oil Company i ...

gas station.Inside the tobacco deal - Interview with Ronald Motley
''Pbs.org'' He graduated from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1971.Biography from Motley Rice
''Motleyrice.com''

Career

Motley was lead counsel for more than 6,500 family members and survivors of the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

seeking justice against

al-Qaeda , image = Flag of Jihad.svg , caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions , founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden , leaders = {{Plainlist, * Osama bin Lad ...

’s financiers. Motley won major judgments for his clients against the

asbestos Asbestos ( ) is a group of naturally occurring, Toxicity, toxic, carcinogenic and fibrous silicate minerals. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous Crystal habit, crystals, each fibre (particulate with length su ...

and tobacco industries. Ronald Motley was portrayed by Bruce McGill in the 1999 film '' The Insider'', starring

Russell Crowe Russell Ira Crowe (born 7 April 1964) is an actor and film director. Russell Crowe filmography, His work on screen has earned him List of awards and nominations received by Russell Crowe, various accolades, including an Academy Award, two Gold ...

Death

Motley died on August 22, 2013, after a prolonged illness. The cause of death was described by one colleague as "respiratory complications and by another as "complications from organ failure".

External links

Biography
at Motley Rice

References

* Bartleme, Tony
"Ron Motley, famed asbestos and tobacco lawyer, dead at 68."
''Post and Courier ''August 22, 2013 * Searcey, Dionne
"Hard-Charging Attorney Ronald Motley Dead at the Age of 68."
''Wall Street Journal ''blog. * Senior, Jennifer. "A Nation Unto Himself", ''New York Times'' March 14, 2004 {{DEFAULTSORT:Motley, Ronald 1944 births 2013 deaths South Carolina lawyers University of South Carolina alumni People from North Charleston, South Carolina 20th-century American lawyers