Massey, Lee H.

Fulfilling the expectations associated with being selected as the Editor-in-Chief of the Wake Forest Law Review, Jean Martin has become an experienced, accomplished, and respected trial attorney. Jean relies on her diverse educational and business background to understand and achieve client objectives.

Born and raised in Salisbury, NC, Jean attended Wake Forest University, graduating in 1989 with a B.S. in Mathematical Economics. Fifteen days after her Wake Forest graduation, Jean entered the Master of International Business Studies (MIBS) program at the University of South Carolina. Jean worked as an intern with the sales finance team of then computer-giant, Digital Equipment Company (DEC) in Munich, Germany. Arriving in Germany just months after the wall came down, she analyzed company sales figures for the entire European division of DEC and handled pricing promotions during an exciting time for the company as it was making its entrance into the Eastern European market.

After graduation, Jean worked with a firm that provided office management and marketing consulting to doctors, helping them with the business aspect of their practices. She then transitioned to a position as a marketing manager with an international candy manufacturer maintaining responsibility for product development, brand licensing, packaging and promotion.

Jean then chose another path for her life heading back to Wake Forest for law school, where she received her J.D. in 1998. While in law school, Jean served as Editor-in-Chief of the Wake Forest Law Review and was a member of the Moot Court Board. Forever a proud Double Deacon, Jean would later return to Wake Forest to serve as an adjunct professor with the law school.

Mimicking her business and personal life, Jean’s legal career has taken a varied path, which has given her the opportunity to work on multi-million dollar deals as well as to serve as counsel in numerous cases that have resulted in multi-million dollar settlements. Early in her career, Jean had the privilege of being an associate with Blanco, Tackabery, Combs & Matamoros, P.A. in Winston-Salem, NC. Her practice focused on corporate and commercial transactions, primarily for small to medium-sized business owners, family-owned businesses, and real estate developers. Jean was then presented with an opportunity to practice in her hometown of Salisbury, managing a large plaintiff’s personal injury and toxic tort firm. In addition to her management responsibilities, Jean started and led the firm’s pharmaceutical drug and medical device litigation division. Through the course of assisting families whose children had been harmed by vaccines, Jean discovered a pattern of neurological injuries in children whose mothers had been given a particular drug during pregnancy. With this discovery, Jean initiated national litigation against a major pharmaceutical drug and children’s product manufacturer. In 2007, Jean accepted a position with Shipman & Wright, LLP in Wilmington, where among other things, she handled catastrophic personal injury cases, consumer class actions and complex civil litigation. It was during her tenure there that Jean first had the pleasure of working with Katie Lesica. Jean joined forces with Joel Rhine  as the Rhine Law Firm in 2011.