When Jack McConnell was in college, he thought he would become a “Nader’s Raider.” Going into law school, he thought he might be a public defender. Whatever he did, he wanted to take on the wealthy and powerful on behalf of the underdog.
Now, more than 20 years later, McConnell still loves fighting for justice and taking on Big Tobacco, the asbestos industry, and now, the manufacturers of lead paint.
McConnell’s exceptional legal and trial achievements have earned him a host of honors, including the National Association of Attorneys General’s Presidents Award, the Childhood Lead Action Project’s Above and Beyond the Call of Duty Award, the Rhode Island Bar Association’s Dorothy Lohman Award, CWRU’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Award and the Rhode Island ARC’s Silver Bullet Award. He is an Advocate in The National College of Advocacy and the 2006 Bertram Yaffe Award Recipient.
A 1980 Brown University graduate, McConnell earned his law degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Law in 1983. After clerking for the R.I. Supreme Court, he practiced law at the firm of Mandell, Goodman, Famiglietti & Schwartz for two years before beginning work with Motley Rice attorneys in 1986.
