In Memoriam: Joe Rice and Paul Napoli

This summer, the plaintiff bar lost two of its most influential advocates. Paul J. Napoli, founder of Napoli Shkolnik, died at the end of June at 58. Joseph F. "Joe" Rice, cofounder of Motley Rice, died suddenly on September 3 at 72.

Their work shaped modern mass tort litigation, from tobacco and asbestos to opioids, the September 11 attacks, and PFAS contamination.

Joe Rice

Before becoming a lawyer, Joe Rice drove forklifts and worked third shift in South Carolina textile mills. He graduated from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1979 and was introduced to asbestos litigation early in his career, winning one of his first trials alongside Mike Polk.

Working with Ron Motley, Rice developed a reputation as a skilled negotiator outside the courtroom while Motley led the trials. Rice later said that he saw himself as the voice of the people he represented.

At Ness Motley, Rice became one of the lead negotiators across the table from cigarette manufacturers in the late 1990s. As lead private counsel for 26 jurisdictions, he helped craft and negotiate the tobacco Master Settlement Agreement, an achievement he later counted among the proudest of his career.

Over the following decades, he continued negotiating major asbestos bankruptcies, served as one of the lead negotiators in the Volkswagen diesel emissions settlements, and was appointed one of the lead counsel in the National Prescription Opiate MDL. As chair of its negotiating committee, he worked with state attorneys general to help reach more than $50 billion in settlements for communities nationwide.

Opposing counsel held him in high regard. Corporate Legal Times reported that defense lawyers and legal scholars counted him among the "five most feared and respected" plaintiffs' lawyers in corporate America. Sheila Birnbaum, one of Purdue Pharma's national counsel, told The New York Times that Rice was a tough negotiator who knew how to close a deal.

In 2023, Rice and his family gave $30 million to the University of South Carolina School of Law, which was renamed the USC Joseph F. Rice School of Law in his honor. The following year, he was inducted into the Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame.

Motley Rice remembered him as a pioneer, innovator, mentor, and loyal friend.

He is survived by Lisa Summer Rice, his wife of 47 years, and his family.

Paul Napoli

Paul Napoli practiced law for more than three decades. He earned his bachelor's degree from Fordham University, his law degree from St. John's University School of Law, and an LL.M. in environmental law from Lewis & Clark Law School.

He met his wife, Marie, while attending St. John's. Together, they built both a family and a law practice.

Early in his career, Napoli played a significant role in the Fen-Phen diet drug litigation. After September 11, 2001, he was appointed by the federal court as one of the liaison counsel representing more than 11,000 first responders, rescue workers, and recovery personnel.

According to his firm, he helped secure settlements exceeding $900 million and worked to support the passage of Jimmy Nolan's Law and the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, which continues to provide health care and compensation to responders and survivors. He also served on the board of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum.

His later work included representing communities affected by the Flint water crisis and cities and states involved in opioid litigation. At the time of his death, he was serving as one of the lead plaintiffs' counsel in the AFFF multidistrict litigation involving PFAS "forever chemicals," which his firm reports has produced more than $15 billion in settlements for public water systems.

Napoli was a founding member of the Trial Lawyers of Puerto Rico. With Marie, he established the Environmental Justice Laboratory at NYU School of Law to partner with communities confronting environmental harm.

Following his successful initial battle with leukemia, Napoli became a committed supporter of organizations serving patients and families facing the same fight.

Law.com described him as truly one of a kind.

In Gratitude

Between them, Joe Rice and Paul Napoli spent more than seven decades advocating for people, families, workers, first responders, and communities navigating some of the largest and most consequential litigations of their time.

Much of that work continues today through the firms they built, the lawyers they mentored, and the cases still being fought.

We extend our deepest sympathies to their families, their colleagues at Motley Rice and Napoli Shkolnik, and the many people across the plaintiff bar who knew and worked alongside them.