Insurance defense with a side of Rice

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Christine Rice was on her way to a career in nursing when an internship on risk management at a local hospital changed her life’s course.

Rice said she was really interested in how the law governed the practice of medicine. With a nursing degree and a mentor who urged her to go back to school and earn a law degree, Rice switched professions and hasn’t looked back.

“I think the biggest thing I learned from nursing, besides the medical terminology, was the ability to understand and be sensitive to the feelings of others,” she said. “That has helped translate well into the practice of law because, when you put yourself in someone else’s shoes, you start to think critically.”

Rice graduated from Marquette Law School in 2005 and joined Simpson & Deardorff. She became a shareholder in 2010, and president and managing partner in 2017. She’s dedicated not only to building her own career but also helping her colleagues with theirs.

“I attribute my success to my partners who have been my mentors,” Rice said. “They saw the potential in me that I didn’t, they had faith in me, they pushed me out of my comfort zone, they put me in situations to build my confidence as a lawyer, so I want to be that person who does that for somebody else.”

For eight consecutive years, Rice has received recognition from Super Lawyers. She has represented insurance companies as lead counsel before the Wisconsin Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals.

“I’ve been able to transition my practice into primarily insurance coverage specialty, which is an area of law that I enjoy very much,” she said. “It allows me to be exposed to all of the different areas of law while continuing to learn and challenge myself and have the opportunity for appellate advocacy.”

Rice is also president-elect of the Wisconsin Defense Counsel, taking office in 2019.

Her fellow attorney Tom Binder has worked with Rice since she first came out of law school. He said he has seen her grow professionally into one of the most respected lawyers working in insurance defense in the state.

He said Rice refuses to be deterred by the biases some women attorneys encounter in the profession.

“She has really been someone we can count on,” he said. “She has been quite an excellent role model, especially for our female associates, and she has been involved in developing our associates.”