About Rhianna Lee
Rhianna is one of the newest associates at Trial Lawyers for Justice, bringing a strong background in education, research, and advocacy to her legal practice. After graduating from UC Berkeley, she spent seven years working as an educator in underserved high schools in her hometown, developing a deep understanding of the systemic challenges faced by vulnerable communities.
She later served for six years as a research coordinator at the USC Interaction Lab, where she focused on how emerging technologies, including robotics, can support children with developmental and mental health challenges. This work sharpened her analytical skills and reinforced her commitment to evidence-based approaches to complex human problems.
As the youngest sister of Courtney Rowley, Rhianna was inspired to pursue a legal career after witnessing Courtney’s record-breaking toxic exposure verdicts against major corporations, including Monsanto. Seeing the impact of holding powerful entities accountable shaped her decision to become a plaintiff-side attorney.
Rhianna earned her Juris Doctor through an accelerated two-year program at Southwestern Law School on a merit scholarship and successfully passed the California Bar Exam. She is driven by a commitment to justice, public health, and meaningful accountability.
Outside of work, Rhianna enjoys visiting animal sanctuaries, watching horror films, and spending time with her large family, including her thirteen nieces and nephews.
Proven verdicts and settlements at Trial Lawyers for Justice
These results are credited to Trial Lawyers for Justice. A result appears under an attorney's own name only when a published source names them as counsel on the case.
Carrie DeJongh, 40, of Hull, Iowa, died on June 9, 2015 after receiving iodinated contrast dye for a CT scan at Sioux Center Health, when the physician treating her gave her an antihistamine but did not immediately check her vital signs or give epinephrine. Her family sued Sioux Center Health and Dr. Roy T. Slice for negligence, and both defendants denied the allegations. A Sioux County jury in Orange City returned a $29.5 million verdict on June 13, 2018, covering DeJongh's pain and suffering before her death and loss of consortium for her husband and four children. No appeal, remittitur or reduction has turned up since.
In February 2017, a physician assistant at a UnityPoint urgent care clinic in Des Moines diagnosed Joseph Dudley with the flu despite a negative flu test, sent him home on Tamiflu, and never ordered a complete blood count. Two days later Dudley was hospitalized with bacterial meningitis caused by an undetected heart valve infection, spent eight days in a medically induced coma, and suffered a series of strokes that left him with permanent brain damage, hearing loss, vertigo and nerve damage. A Polk County jury tried the malpractice claim against physician assistant Melanie Choos and Central Iowa Hospital Corp, doing business as UnityPoint Clinic, over a week in November 2022 and returned a $27,000,000 verdict, all of it noneconomic damages. The defense moved for a new trial afterward and UnityPoint said it was weighing an appeal.
Richard J. Pellock, 80, had surgery to remove bladder cancer at UnityPoint Health Finley Hospital in Dubuque, Iowa in January 2015, and the operation succeeded. Days later he needed a second procedure for a post-surgical complication, and the nurse anesthetist handling that procedure induced anesthesia without first emptying his stomach despite signs he had a full one. Pellock aspirated, developed aspiration pneumonia and respiratory failure, and died. His widow and son sued the anesthesia group and a Dubuque County jury returned a $10 million verdict against it in September 2017, awarded entirely as loss-of-consortium damages. Defense lawyers were reported as saying they would challenge the verdict, but no Iowa appellate decision in the case has ever been published.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case is unique and depends on its own facts.
