Motley Rice LLC is an American plaintiffs' litigation firm headquartered in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. History Motley Rice was formed in 2003 by co- founding members Ron Motley and Joe Rice after the breakup of the law firm Ness, Motley, Loadholdt, Richardson & Poole P.A. Ron Motley served as lead attorney in the tobacco litigation of the mid 1990s, which resulted in the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement. Motley Rice represented about 96,000 asbestos plaintiffs up to 2004. The firm later transitioned into offering asbestos defendants pre-packaged bankruptcies. Companies that file with the assistance of Motley Rice generally emerge from bankruptcy after just a few months and in some cases just 30 to 45 days. Insurance companies are generally stuck with the liability for asbestos claims discharged in such bankruptcy proceedings. Investors are often allowed to keep their equity and often become wealthy when stock prices rise after a firm is cleansed of asbestos liability. Claimants that are extremely ill generally receive far less compensation than they would otherwise qualify for. Standard bankruptcies last an average of six years and can cost millions of dollars per month. Notable lawyers Ronald Motley, co-founding member Joseph Rice, co-founding member Mary Schiavo, former Inspector General of the United States Department of Transportation, author of Flying Blind, Flying Safe Linda Singer, former Washington, D.C. Attorney General Controversies Frivolous suit against ITT In March 2012, Motley Rice was ordered to pay ITT Educational Services almost $400,000 in legal fees for pursuing a "frivolous" lawsuit the judge said was "based on a completely false story." On review, the 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the order and reinstated the lawsuit against ITT. The Court of Appeals was critical of the lower court's dismissal, writing, "[W]e believe that Leveski's case is yet another instance of a district court dismissing an [False Claims Act] suit after viewing the allegations at too high a level of generality." Congoleum In the Congoleum bankruptcy Motley Rice refused to answer questions put to it under Rule 2019. Rule 2019, formally called Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 2019(a), requires that attorneys representing more than one creditor file a statement naming the creditors, the amounts of their claims, an explanation of how the attorney became employed on the case, and the nature and amount of any relevant claims held by the attorney. Rule 2019 is designed to allow judges to identify conflicts of interests.