Wayne Julian Rice

Mr. Rice was admitted to the Minnesota bar in 1992, the California bar in 2003 and has practiced family law exclusively since 2011. In  2016, earned the designation of Certified Legal Specialist in Family Law from the California Board of Legal Specialization.

Mr. Rice has represented clients in international custody disputes, as well as domestic violence restraining order matters and cases involving complex property issues, including the enforcement of pre-marital agreements involving transmutation. He has made several hundred appearances in family court in the last five years, including numerous evidentiary hearings.

Mr. Rice was raised in Poway. He obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Music from the University of Michigan, a Master’s Degree in Music from the Manhattan School of Music, and his law degree from the University of Minnesota Law School.

He began his legal career as a judicial clerk for Justice Sandra Gardebring of the Minnesota Supreme Court. He then worked as an associate at a 300-attorney firm and as in-house counsel for a large multi-national corporation, where he conducted union negotiations in several cities across the United States. But after his first seven years in practice, Mr. Rice’s interest in representing individuals instead of corporations led him to open his own practice, representing employees against their employers, as well as civil rights litigants.

After more than 20 years away from California, Mr. Rice returned to San Diego in 2003, and opened his own firm, representing individuals in a variety of business litigation matters, including representation on a complex real estate matter involving property worth more than $50,000,000, as well as lead counsel in a class action involving more than 1,000 employees.

Mr. Rice has argued cases before the Minnesota Court of Appeals, the Minnesota Supreme Court, the New Hampshire Supreme Court and the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Mr. Rice does not take individual clients.  His practice is focused on providing support for other law firms by performing in-depth legal research, drafting and responding to discovery, and other documents, as well as making court appearances--everything from simple continuances to evidentiary hearings and trials.