Motley Rice Applauds National Asbestos Awareness Week Resolution

Public Awareness, Medical Research Important as Asbestos-Related
Illnesses Continue to Develop
MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C.--(Business Wire)--
In recognition of the United States Senate's resolution
designating the first week of April as National Asbestos Awareness
Week, South Carolina-based plaintiffs' firm Motley Rice LLC stresses
the continuing importance of research, action and responsibility as
related to asbestos exposure and asbestos-related diseases throughout
South Carolina.

"I applaud the Senate for recognizing the need to draw more
attention to this important topic. Victims of asbestos-related
diseases and their families have a voice and message that needs to be
heard," said Motley Rice Member and litigator John Herrick. "They are
uniting together to push for improved rights to treatment, research
and prevention."

Ron Wood, a Motley Rice client suffering from asbestosis, is one
of these voices striving to raise awareness on the dangers of asbestos
exposure. Wood worked as an insulator in South Carolina from 1965 to
1976. He recently lost his son, James Ron Wood, Jr., to deadly
mesothelioma as a result of household exposure to asbestos.

"Losing a child is the worst thing that can happen to you, and I
carry the guilt every day of knowing I exposed him to asbestos," said
Wood, who today trains employees in environmental safety and health.
"Every time I relate my experience to the people I am training, I lose
a little piece of myself, but I'm trying to get something positive out
of what happened."

Asbestos-related illnesses remain an issue in South Carolina, from
the former Charleston Naval Base in the Lowcountry to the textile
plants in the upstate. Motley Rice attorneys have a long history of
fighting for the rights of occupational workers and their loved ones
who have suffered due to asbestos-related diseases, and the firm
continues to see new cases of South Carolina workers who have
developed these illnesses. Many South Carolina industrial workers who
are developing these diseases were employed at major jobsites
including paper mills in Charleston and Georgetown, chemical
manufacturing plants in Aiken and Greenville, and various power plants
throughout the state.

It was in a Greenville, South Carolina, courthouse in 1978 that
Motley Rice LLC co-founder Ronald L. Motley first introduced into
evidence the infamous Sumner Simpson files which exposed the fact that
asbestos manufacturers knew as early as 1935 that asbestos caused
disabling damage to the lungs. It was from his small Barnwell, South
Carolina, office that Motley called every plaintiffs attorney he knew
and offered to share the evidence for the mere cost of photocopying.
He continued to research and investigate asbestos and the medical
facts of asbestos-related diseases, and was eventually asked to
contribute to several medical journals and serve as guest speaker at
numerous medical conferences. Since then, Motley and other Motley Rice
attorneys have represented thousands exposed to and harmed by asbestos
and asbestos products throughout America and Canada.

"I believe that, because of Ron's war of disclosure and his belief
in corporate responsibility, we are able to have the awareness of the
asbestos danger that exists today. Ron's passion for the truth serves
as the cornerstone of this week's mission," stated Motley Rice
co-founder, Joseph F. Rice.

Proposed by the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) and
Senator Harry Reid and passed unanimously by the U.S. House and Senate
in 2005, Asbestos Awareness Day was founded to honor loved ones
affected by asbestos-related diseases, as well as to promote advances
in protecting the rights of asbestos victims and to increase public
awareness of the continuing dangers of asbestos exposure and the often
fatal asbestos-related illnesses. This year the Senate took it a step
further and passed a resolution to designate the entire first week of
April as National Asbestos Awareness Week.

As a parallel to their litigation efforts, the firm strongly
supports national efforts for greater awareness, improved rights and
protections, and enhanced medical care for asbestos victims and their
loved ones. Motley Rice attorneys have worked with several unions,
including the Sheet Metal Workers' International Association, as legal
and advisory counsel, and in 2005, the firm joined the executive
advisory board of the International Pleural Mesothelioma Program,
based at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts.

For more information on Asbestos Awareness Week visit
www.AsbestosDiseaseAwareness.org. To learn more about the Motley Rice
Occupational Disease practice group or the firm's work in asbestos
litigation or more about mesothelioma, visit
www.motleyrice.com/occupational, or www.aboutmeso.com.

About Motley Rice LLC

Motley Rice LLC is one of the nation's largest plaintiffs'
litigation firms, headquartered in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina. In
addition to their pioneering work on behalf of asbestos victims,
Motley Rice attorneys have also gained global recognition for their
work on behalf of the State Attorneys General in their landmark
litigation against the tobacco industry, and the 9/11 families in
their groundbreaking lawsuit against terrorist financiers. For more
information, contact attorney John E. Herrick (SC, MD) at
1-800-923-4237.

Motley Rice LLC
Media Contact:
Alicia G. Ward, 843-216-9548
Marketing and Communications Director
Mobile: 843-532-7011
AWard@motleyrice.com

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