JOEL R. RHINE
| E-Mail:
jrr@lrlawfirm.com |
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Areas of Practice:
Class Actions/Complex
Civil Litigation
Catastrophic
Personal Injury
Wrongful
Death
Construction
Law
Product
Liability
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| Admitted: |
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1988,
North Carolina Bar Association
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| Law
School: |
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Wake Forest
University, J.D., 1988.
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| College: |
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University
of Tampa, B.A., cum laude, 1985.
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Member:
New Hanover County (President,
1997-1998; Vice President, 1996-1997; Secretary-Treasurer,
1995-1996), North Carolina (Member, Sections on:
Litigation; Construction Law (Executive Board);
Insurance) and American (Member, Sections on: Litigation;
Tort; Insurance; Construction) Bar Associations;
North Carolina State Bar; North Carolina Academy
of Trial Attorneys.
Biography:
Joel Robert Rhine is the head
of Lea, Rhine & Associates' complex civil litigation
team, which emphasizes construction defect and mold
litigation, securities litigation, catastrophic
injuries and class actions. Mr. Rhine is an experienced
trial attorney, who has attained an AV rating by
Martindale-Hubbell and was recently selected to
Business North Carolina magazine’s "Legal
Elite," which is a select list of lawyers whose
peers have designated them as "the State’s
best practitioners in their fields." Mr. Rhine’s
election to the "Legal Elite" is a recognition of
his work in the field of construction defect litigation.
Mr. Rhine is a frequent speaker at Continuing Education
Seminars for attorneys, real estate professionals,
property management groups and builders and recently
spoke at the Mass Torts Made Perfect Seminar in
Las Vegas Nevada where other speakers included:
Jack Kemp, James Carville, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.,
Ron Motley, Steve Toll, Dick Morris, Mike Papantonio
and others. Please call our office for information
about upcoming Seminars.
With
respect to his construction defect litigation:
Mr. Rhine was among the first
lawyers to file an EIFS lawsuit against synthetic
stucco manufacturers and received the first verdict
against an EIFS manufacturer in a trial in Norfolk,
Virginia. Mr. Rhine has been actively involved in
all phases of construction defect litigation and,
prior to settling in Wilmington, he practiced with
the mega-firm Hunton & Williams where his emphasis
was on nuclear power plant construction litigation.
He also worked on wrongful death actions; environmental
contamination cases; insurance disputes; product
liability cases and other complex trials on behalf
of some of the Hunto & Williams’ largest
corporate clients. Since then, Mr. Rhine has represented
owners, general contractors, design professionals,
engineers and subcontractors in various types of
failed buildings, including large multi-family residential
structures, single family residences and large commercial
projects. He maintains an active class action practice,
remains intimately involved in EIFS litigation in
several States and is prosecuting water intrusion
and mold related claims in the coastal areas of
North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. Mr.
Rhine has tried several water intrusion cases that
involved numerous water intrusion and mold issues
against developers, builders, product manufacturers,
suppliers and subcontractors and stays abreast of
the latest insurance issues and claims. Several
of his clients have enjoyed multi-million dollar
verdicts and settlements in this unique field.
With respect to others areas of practice, Mr. Rhine
is prosecuting securities litigation and is active
in claims against brokers and others who improperly
issued buy recommendations on stocks that failed
to warrant such a push and instead were issued to
support the firms investment banking services to
the large corporations. Mr. Rhine is working on
several catastrophic personal injury claims, including
wrongful deaths caused by drunk drivers. Mr. Rhine
has involvement in two anti-trust class actions
and is investigating several others. Finally, Mr.
Rhine is extremely active in various insurance coverage
issues.
Education
and Publications:
Mr.
Rhine received his Juris Doctor degree from Wake
Forest University in 1988, where he was elected
to the Wake Forest University Law Review and received
the Wake Forest Law Review award in recognition
of his publications. In fact, Mr. Rhine was published
twice in the Wake Forest Law Review while a student
at Wake Forest. His publications include:
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Note, "Employment
Discrimination - The Fourth Circuit Court
of Appeals Finds Title VII Not to be the Exclusive
Remedy Available to State and Local Government
Employees, - Keller v. Prince George's County
Department of Social Services," 23 Wake Forest
Law Review 343, 1988; and
Note, "Domestic Relations - The North Carolina
Supreme Court Revokes the Marital Presumption
and Adopts the Analytic Approach to the Classification
of Personal Injury Settlements - Johnson and
Johnson," 22 Wake Forest Law Review 931, 1987. |
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Mr. Rhine has continued to write since leaving law
school. For example, during his tenure with Hunton
& Williams, Mr. Rhine contributed to Douglas'
Forms, Civil Litigation, a publication recognized
as a standard reference manual for North Carolina
attorneys.
Mr. Rhine received his undergraduate degree, cum
laude, from the University of Tampa in 1985,
where he received an academic scholarship, was inducted
into four honor societies, was on the Dean's List
from 1982 through 1985, was awarded the Political
Science Graduate Award for attaining the highest
GPA among Political Science graduates and was a
letterman on the varsity baseball team.
Mr. Rhine attended Charlotte Latin School, in Charlotte
North Carolina and was elected President of the
Student Body, received 9 varsity letters, was Captain
of the baseball and football teams and was the Junior
Class President.
Born:
New York, New York, November
13, 1962. |
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