RHINE LAW FIRM - Key Persons
Ashley Steinmetz joined our team in 2022. She has several years of experience as a paralegal with a concentration in personal injury. She received her bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice from York College.
While not at the office, Ashley enjoys beach trips, traveling and hiking with her husband and son.
Elise H. Wilson is a Wilmington, North Carolina native and a trial attorney. She is admitted to practice in North Carolina and Georgia. Elise has known she wanted to be a trial attorney since high school, when she began competing in mock trial competitions and found a passion for advocacy. After graduating from the University of North Carolina, Elise moved to Georgia and attended Emory University School of Law, where she was admitted to the Order of Emory Advocates, received the Debra Cohen de Rothschild Scholarship for female trial advocates, and graduated with honors. After beginning her career defending some of the country's largest corporations, Elise is proud to be representing victims who have faced harassment, assault, and injury.
Before joining Rhine Law Firm, Elise litigated aviation, trucking, premises liability, and insurance coverage cases on the defense side in Georgia. As an insurance defense attorney, she served as coverage counsel to some of the largest insurance companies in the country. She is excited to bring her experience with insurance coverage issues to the North Carolina plaintiffs' bar.
When she isn't advocating for her clients, Elise works to encourage the next generation of trial attorneys through her involvement with mock trial. She has coached trial advocacy teams at Georgia Tech, Emory Law School, and Harvard Law School; written mock trial case problems for high school, college, and law school students; and spoken about her case writing work at the Loyola Chicago Women in Litigation Conference. She is proud to serve on the Board of Directors for the American Mock Trial Association, which hosts mock trial competitions for more than 4,000 students every year.
In her spare time, Elise enjoys baking, playing tabletop board games, and spending time with her partner and cat.
Education:
University of North Carolina, B.A. in Political Science
Emory University School of Law, J.D. with Honors
Janet Coleman has practiced law in the Wilmington area for over thirty-five years. She started her career in the law in a general practice firm where she was one of the partners, handling all types of matters including commercial landlord-tenant matters, wills and estates, real estate and other litigation. In 1997 she joined the New Hanover County District Attorney's Office, where she handled all types of criminal matters as a prosecutor, taking over 250 cases to trial by jury. Her areas of concentration in the last five years in the District Attorney's Office included financial crimes, homicide, arson and elder abuse, neglect and exploitation. Janet created a multi-disciplinary team for New Hanover County elder abuse matters, bringing together law enforcement, social services, Senior Center representatives, public guardians, bankers, clerks and others to more effectively handle these difficult cases. She frequently spoke at meetings about these issues, and helped many avoid becoming victims of financial scams and other exploitation. She represented the citizens of North Carolina as their advocate for over twenty years as a prosecutor, and now brings those advocacy skills to the Rhine Law Firm.
Janet was raised in Southern New England, and moved to North Carolina to attend college at Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina. Thereafter she attended law school at Campbell University School of Law, becoming a member of the Law Review.
She has one adult daughter who is a Physician's Assistant, and enjoys spending time running, volunteering with N.C. High School Mock Trial, and enjoying the Wilmington area's many recreational opportunities.
Joel R. Rhine is a nationally recognized trial attorney who chooses to live in Wilmington, North Carolina. Mr. Rhine enjoys the best of both worlds: he leads the Rhine Law Firm, P.C.'s charge on a host of important North Carolina cases, while participating in large national cases (primarily class action and mass tort cases with an occasional massive single-event matter). Mr. Rhine has decades of experience in complex litigation and is one of the most recognized and respected trial attorneys in North Carolina.
Mr. Rhine is comfortable in the complex trial atmosphere, where his fee and the reimbursement of the firm's advanced expenses are fully dependent on a successful resolution. In many instances, his clients have no viable economic future if the case is lost. Often, the defense considers the case to be "bet the company" litigation and hires the top lawyers from the largest law firms to defend the case. These lawsuits are tough and expensive - often, the advanced costs are in the six- and seven-figure range. Of course, when the stakes are this high, the lawyers are sharp, skilled, and prepared. This is the setting for Mr. Rhine's contingency-fee caseload.
Mr. Rhine is constantly seeking challenges and thus the types of cases he works on are varied. This variety is exemplified by a sampling of his recent results and pending cases:
Several seven-figure recoveries in a series of stairway and deck collapses in vacation rental homes in coastal North Carolina;
$25 million plus settlement in a Pella Window Class Action in the North District of Illinois (Eubank, et al v. Pella Corporation and Pella Windows and Doors (United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, 06 C 44810));
Co-lead counsel in the largest individual Chinese Drywall settlement, which was valued at over $24 million;
Co-lead counsel in Finerman et al v. Marriott Ownership Resorts, Inc, and International Cruise & Excursion Gallery (United States District Court, Middle District of Florida, 3:14-cv-1154) which settled for over $16.5 million (including attorneys' fees);
Lead counsel for three victims injured in the Florida International University Bridge Collapse in Miami;
$3.1 million settlement that occurred during trial in a bus collision case occurring in Virginia;
$9.0 million wrongful death judgment from a parasailing tragedy in North Carolina;
$2.0 million recovery related to a motorcycle vs. truck accident in North Carolina;
co-counsel in Griffey and Ranson v. Magellan Health, Inc.,S. District Court, District of Arizona, Case No. 2:20-cv-01282-MTL (in preliminary settlement) and in Dearing v. Magellan Health, Inc., U.S. District Court, District of Arizona, Case No. 2:20-cv-013648-MTL (settled for $1.7 million);
co-counsel in Moose v. Allegacy Federal Credit Union, Superior Court of Forsyth County, North Carolina (Business Court), Case No. 2020 CVS 4279;
co-lead counsel in a data breach case concerning Shorter University in the Northern District of Georgia;
lead counsel in a successful data breach class action, Boykin v. Tennessee Orthopaedic Alliance, P.A., Chancery Court for the State of Tennessee, Twentieth Judicial District, Davidson County, Case No. 20-0615-BC;
co-lead counsel in approximately 700 Chinese Drywall cases in the Eastern District of Louisiana;
co-counsel on litigation pending class certification regarding substandard military housing at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina;
co-counsel in Dugan v. Nationstar Mortgage LLC, and ACI Worldwide Corp;
a member of the Plaintiff Steering Committee of Benicar (Olmesartan) Products Liability MDL in the District Court of New Jersey.
Significant confidential settlements for victims of the Oak Island Bridge Collapse over the ICWW in North Carolina;
Member of the Plaintiffs' Steering Committee in the Benicar (Olmesartan) Products Liability Litigation in New Jersey.
Mr. Rhine's hard work has been recognized by his peers and many publications. Mr. Rhine has been recognized repeatedly as a Super Lawyer - Top 100 North Carolina Lawyers; Business North Carolina's Legal Elite; Best Lawyers; National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Trial Lawyers; and has enjoyed an AV rating from Martindale Hubbell since 2002. The Rhine Law Firm, P.C., has repeatedly been named a "Tier 1 Best Firm" by U.S. News and World Reports.
Background
Mr. Rhine graduated from Wake Forest University Law School in 1988 as one of the only students ever to be published twice in the Law Review.
After WFU, Mr. Rhine accepted a "big law" position with Hunton & Williams in their Raleigh office. His work at Hunton & Willams was dominated by two nuclear power plant construction cases, one in Dallas/Fort Worth and the other in Raleigh.
In the early 1990s, Mr. Rhine moved to Wilmington and established a contingency fee construction, product liability, and personal injury practice.
Mr. Rhine achieved his first eight-figure verdict in a federal jury trial at age 30.
Mr. Rhine filed the first lawsuit in what became the multi-decade, multi-state synthetic stucco (EIFS) litigation, where he represented thousands of homeowners against a variety of constructions participants and manufacturers. When this mass tort litigation bogged down, Mr. Rhine began taking the cases to trial. The first trial ended in a settlement after six weeks of testimony. Later, Mr. Rhine obtained the nation's first verdict against an EIFS manufacturer. This multimillion-dollar verdict was a catalyst for a national EIFS settlement against this EIFS manufacturer.
Mr. Rhine sought new challenges after the EIFS litigation, including class actions of many types, business dispute litigation, catastrophic personal injury and wrongful death cases, product liability actions, and data breach cases. He is regularly invited to participate in interesting, important, and complex litigation by attorneys who know his trial talents, integrity, and work ethic. He has been counsel, lead counsel, or a member of the plaintiff steering committee in dozens of class actions and national mass tort cases.
As a frequently requested speaker on legal topics for trial lawyers and judges, Mr. Rhine speaks at continuing education seminars on topics ranging from trial skills, class actions, ethics, and more. Mr. Rhine has presented on multiple occasions throughout the United States for, among others, Mass Torts Made Perfect, North Carolina Advocates of Justice, North Carolina Bar Association, Mealeys, Lorman, and the AEI-Brookings Joint Center Judicial Education Program.
Finally, and above all, Mr. Rhine is a devoted family man. He and Alice Rhine will celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary in May 2020. Their son, Michael, graduated from the Kenan-Flagler Business School at UNC-Chapel Hill and is an investment banker in Charlotte. Their daughter, Julia, is a student at UNC-Chapel Hill.
Rhine Law Firm, P.C., was established by Joel Rhine with the goal of providing personalized, experienced and effective legal help to individuals, families and professionals throughout North Carolina. The firm offers decades of comprehensive legal experience in personal injury law, products liability, construction litigation, business litigation and other civil litigation.
Joel Rhine has handled cases involving construction issues, trucking accidents, products liability and wrongful death for over 30 years. He has tried numerous cases successfully to verdict as well as obtained recoveries through arbitration, settlement or alternative dispute resolution. He is often called upon to serve on arbitration panels for construction litigation matters.
Joel Rhine leads Rhine Law Firm's complex civil litigation team. He brings proven legal experience handling a wide variety of complex legal matters often involving personal injury, product liability and trucking, construction and pharmaceutical litigation, and much more.
Lara Madrid was born to advocate for those who need it the most. Having grown up in countries on the brink of civil war, Lara knew from a young age that helping others was her passion. Throughout her life Lara has participated in organizations and clubs to do just that. Lara joined our firm in 2021 as a summer intern. After she graduated from UNC Chapel Hill, she came back to spend her gap year with us, learning as she worked. This fall she will be starting law school to pursue her Juris Doctorate to continue her journey to becoming an advocate. In her free time, Lara likes to read, do yoga, and try new foods.
Mr. Acree is a board-certified workers' compensation attorney and mediator with a state-wide plaintiff's practice. He has been certified by the North Carolina State Bar as a specialist in workers' compensation law. According to the Bar, only 3.7% of the attorneys in North Carolina are board-certified. His particular focus in workers' compensation is asbestos-related diseases (asbestosis and cancers) and serious bodily injuries. He only represents injured workers and their families. He also handles Social Security disability claims and mediates for other attorneys in the areas of workers' compensation and civil litigation. He is a past member of the NCBA Workers' Compensation Section Council and the NCBA Education Law Section Council. He currently serves on the State Bar Board for the Lawyer Assistance Program (LAP). He regularly speaks at CLE seminars regarding workers' compensation matters and LAP.
He received a B.A. in economics, cum laude, from Wake Forest University in 1982 and his law degree, also from Wake Forest, in 1989. While in law school, he was a member of the Law Review, the Moot Court Board and the Honor Council. His peers have assigned him an AV Preeminent® Martindale-Hubbell® rating.
He has served on numerous community boards such as the Red Cross, the Community Care Clinic, Faithful Friends Animal Sanctuary, and two private schools. He and his wife actively support animal organizations with their time and resources. He is a member of the First United Methodist Church in Salisbury.
Martin Ramey zealously represents plaintiffs in complex litigation, including institutional child sex abuse, personal injury, products liability, construction defects and wrongful death cases.
Born and raised in a "mill village" in north Georgia, he was the first in his family to ever attend college - working long hours during the day and attending class at night in Atlanta. During that time, Martin discovered that he had a passion for helping others. He found a job working for a local food bank and later a national nonprofit anti-hunger organization, where he assisted in efforts to promote and pass a national Good Samaritan Law, under then-U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Dan Glickman. The legislation was designed to assist nonprofit, community feeding programs in collecting excess food from restaurants and caterers throughout the United States without the worry of liability from such donations.
After college, Martin went on to law school in San Diego, and began his advocacy for plaintiffs in the firms of Thorsnes, Bartolotta & McGuire and Rockwood & Noziska. In 2005, he moved to North Carolina where he later received awards and recognitions for his work by the North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers (presently NCAJ) and Super Lawyers Magazine.
Martin's practice is exclusively devoted to litigation. In his spare time, though, he enjoys spending time with his spouse, their twins, and dog.
Ruth Sheehan began fighting for the little guy even before she became a lawyer. For more than 20 years, Ruth was a reporter and metro columnist for The News & Observer in Raleigh, providing a voice to the voiceless through her writing. In 2010, Ruth went back to law school at UNC-Chapel Hill and now uses her advocacy skills on behalf of her clients at the Rhine Law Firm.
Ruth has tried hundreds of cases, both bench trials and to juries. She has experience handling all sorts of negligence cases, from automobile and bicycle crashes to dog bites and premises liability cases. She has represented clients in state courts all the way to the NC Court of Appeals and Supreme Court, as well as in federal court. Ruth has helped folks who have had their land condemned for public roads and other projects, and is relentless in advocating for clients in sexual harassment cases. Since joining Rhine Law Firm, she has been a key player in class actions involving faulty elevators and data breaches, as well as assisting military families forced to live in substandard housing on base.
Education
Carolina School of Law, UNC-Chapel Hill, J.D.
University of Wisconsin-Madison, BA in History and Journalism, with honors
University of Warwick, Coventry, England (Junior year abroad)
Duke University DeWitt Wallace Center for Media and Democracy
Professional Associations
North Carolina Advocates for Justice, member 2015 to present; Board of Governors, 2017 to 2021
Wake County Bar Association, Communications 2020 to 2022
Our Lead Trial Paralegal, Stephanie Chase, joined our firm in 2015 and has more than 14 years of experience as a paralegal, mainly focused on personal injury litigation.
Stephanie received her bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Mount Olive College and earned her Paralegal Certificate from Cape Fear Community College. She is a North Carolina Notary Public and is a NALA certified paralegal as well as a North Carolina certified paralegal.
Stephanie is a proud Army mom and an active volunteer for multiple local dog rescues. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, baking and going to the beach with her husband, kids and dogs.