Jean Y. Rhee

Biography

Jean Rhee is a seasoned litigator and strategic advisor with a distinguished track record in complex business, intellectual property, and employment litigation. As Counsel at Kibler Fowler & Cave LLP, she brings nearly two decades of high-level litigation experience across federal and state courts, as well as domestic and international arbitration forums. Her practice includes representing Fortune 100 and 500 companies in high-stakes civil, regulatory, and white-collar criminal matters, and advising clients on a wide range of employment law issues.

Prior to joining the firm, Jean was a partner at Russ August & Kabat and previously practiced at Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP and Bird Marella. She began her legal career as a law clerk to the Honorable Ronald M. Gould on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Jean has been recognized by her peers as a leading attorney in Southern California, earning selection as a Southern California Super Lawyer (2022–2025) and previously as a Rising Star (2013–2019), including being named among the Top 100 Rising Stars and Top 50 Women Rising Stars in the region.

Jean’s representative matters span a broad range of industries and legal issues, including:

• First-chairing a jury trial in California state court and obtaining a unanimous verdict on all contract and quasi-contract claims.
• Defending national financial institutions in wage-and-hour class actions.
• Representing global brands—such as The Honest Company, Carroll Shelby Licensing, Inc., THOR Industries and deadmau5—with their intellectual property litigation and copyright and trademark prosecution needs.
• Advising healthcare institutions and major retailers on employment litigation and compliance.
• Defending high-profile clients in parallel civil and federal criminal investigations involving trade secrets, securities, and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
• Leading complex internal investigations for multinational corporations in sensitive regulatory contexts.

Jean is also deeply committed to public service and professional engagement. She has held leadership roles in several nonprofit and legal organizations, including the Asian Professional Exchange, Project by Project, and the Young Lawyers Subcommittee of the ABA White Collar Crime Committee. She has also served on the Internet Committee for the International Trademark Association (INTA) and volunteered with both Bet Tzedek and Public Counsel. In 2024, Jean led a team that secured a permanent resident card for a Guatemalan asylum seeker referred by Public Counsel.

Jean earned her J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of Michigan Law School, where she was inducted to the Order of the Coif and served as Articles Editor for the Michigan Law Review and a member of the Campbell Moot Court Board. She received her B.A., summa cum laude, from the University of Michigan, where she was recognized as a James B. Angell Scholar and a recipient of the Philips Classical Studies Prize for Most Outstanding Graduate. Also during her time as a University of Michigan undergraduate, Jean was selected as a Rhodes Scholarship Finalist.