Rhine Law Firm

What Rhine Law Firm does

Rhine Law Firm is a Wilmington, North Carolina-based plaintiff litigation boutique founded in 1993, serving individuals in personal injury, product liability, civil litigation, class action, mass tort, and institutional abuse matters. The firm is led by founding partner Joel R. Rhine, who brings 30+ years of litigation experience, and markets primarily through its carolinaaccidentattorneys.com website, which hosts a large topical content library and a dedicated National Cases section.

The firm's core "products" are contingency-fee legal services across practice areas including car and truck accidents, workers' compensation, wrongful death, sexual abuse, juvenile detention abuse, Camp Lejeune water contamination, 3M Combat Arms Earplugs litigation, consumer data-breach claims, and auto product liability. Beyond local North Carolina matters, the firm has expanded its docket to include out-of-state and national mass-tort and abuse cases, and has entered a co-counsel partnership with Lea/Schultz Law Firm, P.C. for institutional sexual abuse work.

Rhine Law Firm operates a contingency-fee business model, generating revenue as a percentage (typically 30-40%) of client recoveries from settlements and verdicts, rather than through hourly billing. The disclosed docket includes multi-million-dollar results, such as $6.835M+ in aggregate New Hanover County Schools settlements (including a $5.75M Kelly matter and a $445K Frank matter). With a stated headcount band of 1-10, the firm functions as a small senior-led boutique, having recently expanded capacity through the promotion of Ruth Sheehan to partner and the hiring of associate attorney Justin Hayes.

Name

Rhine Law Firm

Legal name

Rhine Law Firm, P.C.

Website

https://carolinaaccidentattorneys.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1993

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Rhine Law Firm is a Wilmington, North Carolina-based plaintiff litigation boutique founded in 1993 that represents individuals in personal injury, product liability, mass tort, and institutional abuse matters on a contingency-fee basis, led by partner Joel R. Rhine.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Personal Injury Law

NAICS

Offices of Lawyers (541110)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro primary industry

Personal Injury & Insurance Defense (BPAHAAAM)

akta.pro secondary industries

Litigation & Dispute Resolution (BPAHAAAB), Corporate & Commercial Law (BPAHAAAA)

Keywords

• Personal injury law
• Civil litigation services
• Mass tort lawsuits
• Class action litigation
• Premises liability law

Headquarters

HQ city

Wilmington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Contingency Fee Legal Services: The firm operates primarily on a contingency fee basis - 'No fee unless you receive compensation.' They also offer percentage-of-recovery arrangements for business litigation. This means clients pay no upfront costs and the firm takes a percentage of settlements or verdicts won.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Rhine Law Firm, P.C. is a contingency-fee civil litigation law firm representing individuals and businesses across practice areas including personal injury, car accidents, construction disputes, business litigation, catastrophic injuries, institutional sex abuse, defective drugs and medical devices, mass torts and class actions, premises liability, medical malpractice, social security disability, workers' compensation, wrongful death, property damage, and admiralty and maritime law. The firm is led by Joel R. Rhine from its Wilmington, North Carolina headquarters and serves clients throughout North Carolina and nationally.

Product overview

Rhine Law Firm, P.C. is a personal injury and civil litigation law firm based in Wilmington, North Carolina. The firm operates as a single-service legal practice offering comprehensive legal representation across multiple specialized practice areas. The core offerings include personal injury representation, car accident litigation, construction litigation, business litigation, catastrophic injuries, institutional sex abuse representation, defective drugs and medical devices cases, mass torts and class action litigation, premises liability, medical malpractice, social security disability, workers' compensation, wrongful death claims, property damage, and admiralty and maritime law. The firm is led by Joel Rhine and serves clients throughout North Carolina and nationally, emphasizing personalized legal representation with free consultations, flexible scheduling, and Spanish language services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Personal Injury Legal Services Comprehensive legal representation for individuals who have suffered personal injuries due to accidents or negligence in North Carolina and across the United States.

Quantifiable outcome

• $140 million default judgment obtained for victims of teacher Michael Kelly
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Lea/Schultz Law Firm, P.C.coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 May 2026Co-counsel partnership in representing survivors of institutional sexual abuse. The firms jointly represented victims in New Hanover County Schools cases, combining resources for complex litigation against school districts and teachers Michael Kelly and Peter Michael Frank.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Morgan & Morgan: Largest plaintiff-side personal injury firm in the US with a national footprint and heavy TV/digital marketing. Comparable as a contingency-fee PI leader but vastly larger scale and broader geographic coverage than Rhine.
• Motley Rice: One of the largest US plaintiff firms, renowned for asbestos, opioids, and mass tort leadership. Overlaps with Rhine on mass tort and class action work but at materially larger scale.
• Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein: Nationally recognized plaintiff firm specializing in class action and mass tort litigation. Direct overlap with Rhine's class action docket (consumer, product liability).
• Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll: Plaintiff-side firm with strong consumer protection, class action, and personal injury practices. Comparable on class action participation and contingency-fee plaintiff work.

Direct peers

• Simmons Hanly Conroy: Mid-size plaintiff firm with deep mass tort and class action practice (asbestos, opioid, Camp Lejeune-adjacent litigation). Highly comparable to Rhine on mass tort docket, contingency model, and case-mix overlap.
• Anapol Weiss: Mid-size plaintiff firm focused on personal injury, mass tort, and class actions (defective drugs, medical devices). Comparable contingency model and case-mix overlap with Rhine.
• Napoli Shkolnik: Plaintiff firm with strong mass tort practice (Camp Lejeune, 3M earplugs, opioid MDL). Direct peer to Rhine on emerging mass tort dockets and national case participation.
• Hupy and Abraham, S.C. Mid-size personal injury firm in Wisconsin with multi-office presence and contingency-fee model. Comparable as a regionally-anchored PI firm with similar headcount range.
• Levin Papantonio Rafferty: Florida-based plaintiff firm focused on personal injury, mass tort, and class actions with similar contingency-fee model. Directly comparable in practice mix and litigation philosophy.

Regional players

• Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann: Plaintiff-side firm with strong securities and consumer class action practice; overlaps with Rhine on consumer-facing mass tort and class action dockets, though Rhine is more personal-injury heavy.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/rhine-law-firm-p-c-

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Rhine Law Firm