J. Rice Ferrelle, Jr.

“Rice” Ferrelle, Jr. is an AV Preeminent® rated trial attorney who has experience handling a wide variety of serious personal injury, wrongful death, admiralty, maritime, professional malpractice, securities, and product liability matters throughout Georgia and Florida. He is admitted to The Florida Bar and the State Bar of Georgia and is licensed to practice in all Georgia and Florida state and federal courts, including the United States District Court for the Northern, Southern, and Middle Districts of Florida, as well as the Northern, Middle and Southern Districts of Georgia. He has also been admitted Pro Hac as counsel in numerous jurisdictions throughout the country, including the States of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina and Alabama.

Prior to forming Ferrelle Burns, Rice had the opportunity to practice in several prestigious law firms throughout Florida and Georgia handling personal injury and maritime cases, as well as complex disputes involving commercial and securities torts, antitrust violations, qui tam/false claims, and the infringement of protected intellectual property interests. In addition to receiving Martindale-Hubbell’s highest AV peer recognition, Rice has been recognized as a Jacksonville 904 Top Lawyer, ALM First Coast Top 10 Attorneys Under 40, Florida Rising Star, and he has been featured in Super Lawyers every year since 2011. In 2015, Rice was also named to the Million Dollar and Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum, a national trial lawyers organization which recognizes excellence in advocacy. In 2022, he was selected to the National Trial Lawyers TOP 100 invitation-only membership, where he is recognized as a Top 100 Civil Plaintiff Trial Lawyer in the State of Georgia. Rice is also an inductee into Florida’s Top 100 High Stakes Litigators forum.

Rice is a graduate of the University of Georgia School of Law, where he served for two years on the Editorial Board of the Georgia Journal of Intellectual Property Law. In 2003, Rice’s strong research and writing skills earned him the honor of publishing nationally a student commentary on the application of trade secret law in professional sports industries.

Rice was born and raised in Saint Simons Island, Georgia and attended the University of Virginia for undergraduate studies. At the University of Virginia, he was a member of numerous student organizations, including the Phi Eta Sigma Honor Society, National Society of Collegiate Scholars, and Phi Kappa Psi fraternity, and was selected onto the UVA Men’s Club Soccer team (1998-2000). Rice earned his Bachelor’s degree in Economics with Honors of Distinction, together with a minor concentration in Government & Foreign Affairs.

Rice is a member of the Florida, Georgia, Jacksonville, and Glynn County Bar Associations, The Chester Bedell American Inn of Court, Federal Bar Association, Georgia Trial Lawyers Association (GTLA), the Trial Lawyers Section of The Florida Bar, Jacksonville Justice Association (JJA), Southeastern Admiralty Law Institute, Maritime Law Association, Florida Bar Admiralty Law Committee, the Jacksonville Propeller Club. He is actively involved in several committees of the national Maritime Law Association, having received high recognition in 2012 as a Proctor in Admiralty. He also serves as the Founding Chair of the Jacksonville Bar Association’s Admiralty and Maritime Law Section, has participated as a guest lecturer at Florida Coastal School of Law in Jacksonville, and has served on multiple occasions as an advisory counsel for the Federal District Court Local Rules Committee for the Southern District of Georgia.

While not practicing law, Rice enjoys playing competitive soccer, fishing, spearfishing, watching sports, and spending time with his wife, Amanda, and two children, Connor and Kennedy. He also volunteers his time at local and national non-profit organizations, including Guardian Ad Litem, and formerly served as a board member for the Dreams Come True of North Florida Horizon Board.

Professional Associations and Membership:

• Florida Bar Association, Member
  • Trial Lawyers Section
  • Admiralty Law Committee (2010-present)
• Chester Bedell Inn of Court (Associate member, 2008-09; Barrister, 2014-17)
• Glynn County Bar Association, Member
• State Bar of Georgia, Member
• Jacksonville Bar Association, Member
  • Admiralty and Maritime Law Section, Founding Chair (2008-2013)
• Jacksonville Beaches Bar Association, Member
• Maritime Law Association, Proctor in Admiralty
  • Recreational Boating Committee, Voting Member (2008-present)
  • Maritime Torts and Casualties Committee, Voting Member (2008-present)
• Southeastern Admiralty Law Institute, Member (2007-present)
• Federal Bar Association
• Georgia Trial Lawyers Association (GTLA)
  • Maritime Law Section
• Jacksonville Justice Association (JJA)
• Jacksonville Propeller Club

Past Employment Positions:

• Murphy & Anderson, P.A. – Partner – Jacksonville, Florida
• Smith, Hulsey & Busey – Jacksonville, Florida
• Coker, Myers, Schickel, Sorenson & Green, P.A. – Jacksonville, Florida
• Hunter Maclean, Exley & Dunn, P.C. – Savannah, Georgia

Publications:

• “Combating the Lure of Impropriety in Professional Sports Industries: The Desirability of Treating a Play Book as a Legally Enforceable Trade Secret”, 11 J. Intell. Prop. L. 149, Georgia Journal of Intellectual Property Law (2003)

Areas of Practice:

• Personal Injury and Wrongful Death
• Admiralty and Maritime Law
• Automobile and Trucking Injury Litigation
• Professional and Medical Malpractice
• Product Liability
• Premises Liability
• Transportation and Logistics
• Qui Tam, False Claims and Deceptive Trade Practices
• Fiduciary, Trust and Estate Litigation
• Business Torts, Securities Law and Intellectual Property Litigation

Education

• University of Georgia School of Law, J.D.
  • Editorial Board, Georgia Journal of Intellectual Property Law
• University of Virginia, B.A. Economics (With Honors of Distinction)
  • Dean’s List Eight Consecutive Semesters; Phi Eta Sigma; National Society of Collegiate Scholars

Admissions

• The Florida Bar
• State Bar of Georgia
• Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals
• Georgia Court of Appeals
• U.S. District Court Northern District of Florida
• U.S. District Court Middle District of Florida
• U.S. District Court Southern District of Florida
• U.S. District Court Northern District of Georgia
• U.S. District Court Southern District of Georgia
• U.S. District Court Middle District of Georgia