Rick Yarborough, of counsel in the Firm's Jackson, Mississippi, office, has extensive trial experience in the defense of civil litigation. Mr. Yarborough has tried over 80 cases to jury verdict in 25 different counties in federal and state courts in Mississippi. He was board certified in civil trial practice by the National Board of Trial Advocacy (www.nbtanet.org) in 1995 and re-certified in 2000 and 2005. After a varied career in civil litigation, he now focuses his practice on defending toxic tort/chemical exposure/blood disorder cases including claims involving benzene, toluene, xylene and other organic solvents, chlorinated hydrocarbons, PCB, dioxin, pentachlorophenol, arsenic, manganese, lead, mercury, chromated copper arsenate, asbestos, silica and pharmaceuticals. After obtaining a double major in Chemistry and Biology in undergraduate school, Mr. Yarborough also took additional graduate-level courses in biochemistry, toxicology and pharmacology. He formerly worked as a certified medical technician and was director of the blood chemistry laboratory of a large South Mississippi hospital.
- Represented international chemical company in litigation asserted against it by residents and property owners adjacent to an 80 acre site listed on the National Priorities List (Superfund). Plaintiffs, approximately 4,800 in number, asserted causes of action for wrongful death, personal injury, mental anguish, medical monitoring, remediation and property diminution. Work included litigation with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Justice.
- Represented major national building material supply chain and obtained dismissal of all claims asserted by large group of commercial and residential painters who claimed personal injury from exposure to lead-based paints.
- Represented major oil company and obtained its dismissal in claims brought by factory worker that his lymphoma was caused by long-term work-place exposure via air and to dermal volatile organic compounds (benzene, toluene, zylene).
- Represented group of ten major oil and chemical companies who manufactured or supplied chemical products to chemical facility which went out of business. Plaintiff claimed their work-place exposure resulted from dermal absorption and poor ventilation (air quality) at the chemical facility. Dismissals were obtained for their entire group of clients – manufacturers and suppliers.
- Obtained jury verdict for chemical company who was sued by commercial and residential property owners who claimed property diminution by virtue of adjacent chemical company facility being placed upon Superfund list.
- Represented manufacturer of phenolic molding compounds named in litigation by approximately 11,000 plaintiffs claiming injuries from airborne exposure to asbestos containing material. Dismissals obtained against all plaintiffs filing these claims.
- Speaker – "The Logistics of Community Lawsuits: Care, Feeding and Nurture," Harris Martin, National Benzene Conference, November 2006
- Co-author – "How Epidemiological Studies Prove Causation in Chemical Exposure Cases," HarrisMartin Litigation Watch: Benzene, July 2005
- Speaker – "During Trial, I Get Worried When My Opposing Counsel…", Barristers Seminars, Summer 2005
- Author – Comment, "Strict Liability and Allergic Drug Reactions," 47 Mississippi Law Journal 526, 1976
- Editor – The Mississippi Attorney's Desk Book, 1976
- Board Certified in Civil Trial Practice – National Board of Trial Advocacy, 1995 – present
- Listed in The Best Lawyers in America® in Environmental Law, 2010 – 2012, Product Liability Litigation, 2011 – 2012
- Listed in Mid-South Super Lawyers in Environmental Litigation since 2006
- Member – International Association of Defense Counsel
- Member – Defense Research Institute
- Member – Mississippi Defense Lawyers Association
- Member – American Society of Hospital Attorneys
- Member – American Chemical Society
- Member – Mississippi State Bar
- Member – Capital Area Bar Association
- Member – Mississippi Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Rules, 1986 – 1991
- Chairman – University of Mississippi Honor Council, 1975 – 1976
- Associate Editor – Mississippi Law Journal
- Mississippi, 1976
- U.S. District Court for the Southern and Northern Districts of Mississippi
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit
- University of Mississippi, School of Law, J.D., 1976
- University of Mississippi, B.A., 1974, cum laude
- Phi Kappa Phi
- Omicron Delta Kappa