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Joe Rice, a legendary South Carolina lawyer who won major legal battles against asbestos, tobacco and opioid companies, has died. He was 72.
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Rice’s death was announced Thursday night by his law firm, Motley Rice, in Mount Pleasant. The cause of death is not known.
At the time of his death, Rice was one of a number of lawyers who had just forced the social media company Meta into a multibillion dollar settlement that is expected to bring guardrails that will limit children’s exposure to social media.
Rice was also heavily involved in ongoing litigation against companies whose production of PFAS chemicals over the years have allegedly polluted waterways and drinking water across the nation, including in South Carolina. The chemicals can stay in the body for years.
The PFAS litigation is “clearly the most complex scientific expert case that I’ve ever dealt with because we are having to recreate the manufacturing of chemicals and how they break down in water sources, and trace 30-40 years worth of sales records and all,” Rice said in a 2024 interview with The State newspaper.
“Joe Rice’s negotiating skills made a real and lasting difference for millions of people throughout the nation. But here at home, his impact was just as profound. His quiet generosity touched the lives of nearly everyone throughout the State of South Carolina,” said Don Migliori, a Motley Rice member attorney in a statement released by the firm.
In 2023, Rice and his family donated $30 million to the University of South Carolina law school, which was renamed the USC Joseph F. Rice School of Law. Rice was a 1979 graduate of the law school and a 1976 graduate of the university.
Much of the money he gave the law school is going to hire faculty and provide scholarships. Last May, the university awarded him an honorary Doctor of Laws degree. Rice and his wife, Lisa, were also major contributors to the university’s sports program.
One of Rice’s major successes in suing companies whose products were harmful came against companies that manufactured cigarettes in the late 1990s. He and other lawyers forced tobacco companies into a $250-plus billion settlement in which most of the money went to compensate states for health-related medical costs due to tobacco use. The settlement also advertising restrictions on tobacco companies.
Rice also worked on lawsuits involving 9/11 terrorists and the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
In an interview with USC’s Carolinian Magazine, Rice lauded his fellow lawyers on his various cases as being essential to his success.
“You can’t do the kind of work I do without having a really good team,” he told the magazine.
He also told the magazine that what made him take up the kind of cases he did was the opportunity to do good and right wrongs.
Watching his partner in the tobacco litigation, the late Ron Motley, Rice said, “I watched him develop a theme of how to use the law to correct social injustices. Then, when we were successful in tobacco, that gave me the energy and the commitment to try to do more of those things.”
Rice was not a courtroom lawyer but a master at arranging the elements of a case behind the scenes in such a way that opposing lawyers for big companies had no choice but to negotiate a settlement, said Jim Griffin, a Columbia attorney who has worked a number of cases with Rice.
“It wasn’t his persuasive charm that won agreements. It was the fact that he knew where the other party was most weak and how to exploit it,” said Griffin. “He was a trial blazer with a genius of solving complex litigation problems and was instrumental in changing the safety of everyday Americans in his efforts in tobacco litigation and opioid litigation.”
Although Rice was the consummate negotiator, he didn’t try to smash the other guy.
“Always remember the person you’re negotiating with, you’ll see again,” Rice once told told the Charleston Post and Courier. “You don’t have to kill the other person. You just have to get a result that’s good for your client, and if you get something out of it that’s good for their client, that’s OK, too.”
Terry Richardson, who helped hire Rice in the late 1970s at a Barnwell law firm, Blatt and Failes, praised Rice for his tenacious work ethic and called him “an unusual talent.”
“Joe was hard-driving, he didn’t have a stellar academic background, but he was social and engaged, and we liked him,” Richardson recalled.
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Not everyone was enamored with Rice’s work.
In 1999, the Wall Street Journal criticized him and other trial lawyers for driving some asbestos companies into bankruptcy and undercutting the role of Congress.
“The trial lawyers have become a threat to the very Constitution. We’ve already seen them enacting a national cigarette tax, usurping the legislative function. Now asbestos defendants are being invited to opt out of the USA legal system in favor of one run by the USJR (United States of Joe Rice),” the Journal wrote in an editorial.
“Asbestos manufacturers tried last year to push legislation, but scattered like the wind as soon as Joe Rice of the Ness Motley firm said “boo.” Mr. Rice and friends, who expect to pull down a big chunk of tobacco change, have deep pockets from which to finance their guardian angels in politics,” the Journal wrote.
Rice didn’t mind being criticized for being a trial lawyer.
“We’ve used the jury system to do what Congress couldn’t get done,” Rice told Island Packet columnist David Lauderdale in a 2018 article.
Success
Rice’s position as a key lawyer in numerous cases brought him wealth.
In addition to a 39-meter yacht, called “Rice Quarters,” Rice built and owned a members-only golf course called Bulls Bay in Awendaw north of Charleston. He loved to ride, had a stable at Awendaw with numerous horses and vacationed in Telluride in Colorado.
He was passionate about things western, and his office surroundings were decorated with cowhide rugs, leather chairs and a cowboy hat, according to an article in USC’s Carolinian alumni magazine.
Rice also loved golf and found time to do things like go golfing in Ireland with former USC Gamecocks football coach Steve Spurrier and two other top college football coaches.
In 2023, he had a part ownership in a horse, Confidence Game, that ran in that year’s Kentucky Derby.
Rice was also known for having a good cigar — Montecristo No. 2s were his favorite — to celebrate happy moments and a sweet tooth that could hanker after candy corn, Moon Pies, sweet tea and Girl Scout Thin Mints cookies.
Despite the trappings of his wealth, Rice “was a common man who could speak to anybody and who was kind to everybody,” said Griffin.
Motley Rice had this statement Thursday night:
“It is with overwhelming profound sadness that we share the passing of Joe Rice.
“His death today was sudden and unexpected, and we are all heartbroken by this tremendous loss.
“As you know, Joe was far more than a visionary leader to us at Motley Rice. He was a pioneer, an innovator, a fierce advocate for justice, and a loyal friend to so many.
“As we mourn this heartbreaking loss, we also celebrate a life of extraordinary purpose and service. Please know that when arrangements are made, they will be shared. Thank you in advance for your support.”
The Rice School of Law released the following statement:
“The University of South Carolina Joseph F. Rice School of Law is heartbroken by the sad and unexpected passing of our dear friend Joe Rice.
“We are proud and honored that the law school bears his name. Joe Rice’s legacy will live in perpetuity through the generations of law students who have been and will be supported through his kind generosity.
“Our hearts go out to his beloved wife Lisa, daughter Ann E. Rice Ervin, grandson Beckett, son-in-law Tucker Ervin, and to his treasured colleagues at Motley Rice.”
Other tributes
Kevin Dean, president of the trial lawyers’ group the SC Association for Justice and a Motley Rice attorney, said, “Joe Rice was a titan in the legal field whose fierce advocacy, brilliant legal mind and relentless pursuit of justice changed countless lives. Joe possessed a rare ability to bring people together, take on extraordinarily complex legal challenges and stand up for those facing the most difficult moments of their lives.”
University of South Carolina president Michael Amiridis said, “Joe Rice was a man whose impressive combination of intellect, character, wisdom, spirit and generosity defined a life that made an outsized impact on the world he inhabited. Such a rare man leaves an imprint that lives on long beyond his lifespan, and this will inevitably be true for Joe. The University of South Carolina was honored to know him as an alumnus, friend, benefactor, and one of the greatest Gamecocks of our time. We are honored that his name forever graces our Joseph F. Rice School of Law.”
Rose Buyck Newton, chair, University of South Carolina Board of Trustees, said, “From humble beginnings, Joe Rice worked diligently to earn an education and build a stellar legal career, driven by a passion for justice. He was equally dedicated to his spirit of philanthropy. Countless lives across our state and nation have benefited from his brilliant legal mind and his devoted support to education, conservation, and children’s health and welfare, among other causes.”
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This is a breaking news story and will be updated.