Bio

Barrie Duchesneau

Attorney Barrie Duchesneau is a Partner at Trial Lawyers for Justice. Prior to joining the firm, she spent over a decade representing injured clients at the largest Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury law firm in the Northeast. While Barrie is a New England native, she litigates cases nationwide. Barrie is a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America, The Trial Lawyer Honorary Society and a member of the Trial Law Institute, Diversity Law Institute and New Hampshire Association for Justice.

BARRIE’S SUCCESSES

Barrie is responsible for obtaining over $200 million in settlements and has played an integral role in multi-million dollar verdicts. Here are some of her notable winnings:

• 2023 – Barrie settled a claim on behalf of a 73 year old cyclist hit by truck for $5.75 million.
• 2019 – Barrie helped obtain a $5.1 million settlement in the case of former Red Sox pitcher Bobby Jenks who suffered a spinal surgical injury which focused attention on the practice of simultaneous surgeries.
• 2015 – Barrie successfully argued in the Massachusetts Court of Appeals, which reversed a Medical Malpractice Tribunal’s dismissal of her client’s claim. Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly recognized the Appeal as one of the most influential cases of 2015. She has had continued success in the Appeals Court.
• 2014 – Duchesneau was integral in winning a $16.7 million verdict for a failure to diagnose lung cancer, resulting in the death of a 47-year-old.

Duchesneau is admitted to practice in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the State of New Hampshire, The State of Iowa, The State of Nebraska, the State of South Dakota, the State of Georgia the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire,  and the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska.

BARRIE IN THE NEWS

• Massachusetts Super Lawyer
• Recognized by Massachusetts Lawyer’s Weekly  for her appellate advocacy
• Massachusetts Super Lawyer Rising Star

Bio

Haytham Faraj

Trial Lawyer – Serious Injury, Civil Rights and Complex Criminal Defense

Haytham Faraj is a nationally recognized trial lawyer who specializes in civil rights, personal injury and criminal defense work. He represents clients in serious injury, civil rights and complex criminal cases in state and Federal courts. Mr. Faraj has represented clients in numerous complex cases that gained national and international notoriety. He has accumulated a remarkable record of successes that reflects his firm commitment to his clients and their interests. Mr. Faraj is licensed to practice in Illinois, California, Washington DC, Michigan and Iowa. He is also admitted to practice before numerous federal district and appellate courts.

Legal Career

Mr. Faraj began his legal career in the United States Marine Corps as a judge advocate representing accused service members. Following his retirement from the U.S. Marine Corps, he continued to represent service members before military courts but also began to represent civilian defendants in federal and state courts. In 2012, he founded his own firm and began to represent civil rights and serious injury victims. He has very successfully represented hundreds of clients in serious injury and wrongful death claims due to negligence, or intentional violations of their civil rights. Mr. Faraj also represents clients in medical and professional negligence claims, bad faith claims against insurance companies and select business disputes. Mr. Faraj continues to represent clients accused of serious criminal charges in federal, state and military courts.

Mr. Faraj has built a firm and a team that is committed to exceptional, aggressive and client-centered representation. Mr. Faraj’s approach to client representation reflects his embrace and commitment to the core values that he and every Marine must live by: honor, courage and commitment. Those values shape the work that the firm undertakes to accomplish on behalf of its clients to achieve a just and fair outcome.

Education

Mr. Faraj is a product of the Chicago public school system. He graduated from Mather High School, then immediately joined the Marine Corps. While in the Marine Corps he was one of a few selected from among thousands of Marines to attend college on a Marine Corps scholarship and to become a commissioned officer. He elected to attend The Military College of South Carolina, The Citadel. He completed his college studies in three years, magna cum laude, and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps in 1995. In 2002, Mr. Faraj was one of only 5 officers in the Marine Corps to be selected to attend law school. He attended the American University Washington College of Law in Washington, DC. Following graduation from law school, he passed the Illinois Bar and then attended the Naval Justice School in New Port, Rhode Island. Following the Naval Justice School, he reported to Camp Pendleton, California, as a judge advocate.

Mr. Faraj has developed a well-known and respected reputation as a winning, aggressive and relentless trial lawyer. He attributes his courtroom successes to his military training, discipline, and commitment to be better prepared, more skilled and more ready to engage in the legal combat that is trial practice than his opponents.

Memberships

• ‍Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles‍
• Illinois State Bar Association
• Chicago Bar Association

Bio

Theresa Hatch

Theresa Bowen Hatch is a national trial lawyer with numerous seven-figure and eight-figure verdicts and settlements. She is the founder of Bowen Hatch Law, PC; author of the book Trial By Woman; and founder of the Trial By Woman community. Her legal career has focused exclusively on representing people who are catastrophically and permanently injured.

Theresa has received numerous professional accolades. She has been named among the National Trial Lawyers Association’s Top 100 Civil Plaintiff’s lawyers, she was recognized for winning one of the Top 100 Verdicts in California in 2019, she was recognized as being in the nation’s Top 1% of trial lawyers by the National Association of Distinguished Counsel, and she has been named “Best of the Bar,” a “Rising Star” and a “Super Lawyer” multiple times.

Before pursuing a career in law, Theresa was a journalist. She worked as an on-air television news reporter and as a print and broadcast writer for the Associated Press. Her love of storytelling carried over to her work as a trial lawyer. She bonds with her clients, learns about their lives and experiences and tells their stories.

Theresa is a graduate of the University of Virginia and the University of Baltimore School of Law. She is admitted to practice law in California and Iowa and practices law throughout the country on admission pro hac vice. She is routinely brought into cases as trial counsel by other attorneys to add value to cases.

Bio

John Kawai

John Kawai is a trial lawyer who represents injury victims and their families in lawsuits against insurance companies and other transnational corporations, governments, and other persons and entities with disproportionately vast resources.

Since 2016, John has been a key member of Nick Rowley and Courtney Rowley’s trial team, contributing to landmark verdicts and settlements across the country. His case experience includes:

• A $131 million dram shop verdict in Seattle (2017)

• A $10 million mild traumatic brain injury and loss of consortium verdict in Bakersfield (2021)

• A $12.25 million verdict in Des Moines for an erroneous cancer diagnosis

• A multi-party birth injury case that settled confidentially after one day of trial testimony

• A wrongful death and personal injury settlement ranked among the Top 20 Personal Injury Settlements of 2022 in the U.S.

• In 2024, a $27.5 million settlement for a dangerous condition of public property causing a traumatic brain injury to a middle-school student, and a confidential $41 million settlement

• In early 2025, three consecutive Los Angeles trials resulted in eight-figure verdicts, including:

  • $21.3 million verdict for a “low-speed” tractor-trailer crash victim (settled for $34.8 million)

  • $50 million verdict against Starbucks for negligence

  • $48 million verdict against a school district for failure to protect students from sexual abuse

John is equally proud of cases that advanced the law, including a record settlement for the family of a student who died by suicide after school bullying. He played a vital role in supporting the Fairness for Injured Patients Act, which led to California’s first reform of medical malpractice caps since 1975. John has also taken pro bono medical malpractice cases to raise public awareness of patient rights.

His areas of practice include medical malpractice, dangerous premises, fires, drownings, assaults, defective products, motor vehicle collisions, dangerous public property, and dog attacks. He represents victims suffering from catastrophic injuries, including death, paralysis, traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries, amputations, chronic pain, disfigurement, and severe emotional trauma. John is also one of the few attorneys in the nation handling federal civil restitution cases for victims of child sexual abuse imagery.

John is licensed to practice law in California, Washington, Nevada, Hawaii, and Oregon, as well as in several federal courts.

Inspired by his mother, a physician living with a disability, John’s passion for personal injury law began early. In high school, he volunteered in hospital brain and spinal cord injury wards. He earned his bachelor’s degree in philosophy from UC Berkeley and his Juris Doctor from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, where he joined the St. Thomas More Law Honor Society. Before focusing on personal injury, John clerked with prosecutors and worked pro bono to obtain reparations for Holocaust survivors. He is a graduate of Gerry Spence’s Trial Lawyers College in Dubois, Wyoming, and teaches with the Rowleys’ Trial by Human program.

Bio

Lissa Laffey

When catastrophic injury or wrongful death changes a family’s life forever, the outcome often depends on experience, strategy, and understanding how insurance companies evaluate and defend claims. Lissa brings a distinct advantage to every case: years of experience representing major insurance carriers, now focused exclusively on advocating for injured individuals and grieving families.

Before joining the plaintiff’s bar, Lissa served as in-house counsel for Farmers Insurance and State Farm Insurance and practiced at one of Southern California’s largest insurance defense firms. She defended insurers and corporate defendants in high-exposure civil litigation involving serious personal injury and wrongful death claims. Through that work, she gained direct insight into claim valuation, litigation strategy, risk assessment, and the internal decision-making processes that drive insurance defense.

Today, Lissa applies that knowledge on behalf of plaintiffs. Her background allows her to anticipate defense tactics, evaluate case value with precision, and position cases for maximum recovery. She understands how carriers assess exposure and how to build cases that withstand aggressive defense strategies.

Originally from Rhode Island, Lissa brings a disciplined, results-driven approach to her practice. She is committed to representing individuals facing powerful insurance companies and corporate defendants, ensuring that injury victims receive the full and fair compensation the law provides.

Her commitment to advocacy extends beyond the courtroom. Lissa has supported dog rescue organizations, volunteered with legal veterans’ clinics and free legal aid programs, and served as a Big Sister with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Los Angeles.

Outside of her legal practice, she is a true-crime enthusiast and dedicated Pilates practitioner, maintaining the balance necessary to sustain high-level litigation work.

Bio

Rhianna Lee

Rhianna is one of the newest associates at Trial Lawyers for Justice, bringing a strong background in education, research, and advocacy to her legal practice. After graduating from UC Berkeley, she spent seven years working as an educator in underserved high schools in her hometown, developing a deep understanding of the systemic challenges faced by vulnerable communities.

She later served for six years as a research coordinator at the USC Interaction Lab, where she focused on how emerging technologies, including robotics, can support children with developmental and mental health challenges. This work sharpened her analytical skills and reinforced her commitment to evidence-based approaches to complex human problems.

As the youngest sister of Courtney Rowley, Rhianna was inspired to pursue a legal career after witnessing Courtney’s record-breaking toxic exposure verdicts against major corporations, including Monsanto. Seeing the impact of holding powerful entities accountable shaped her decision to become a plaintiff-side attorney.

Rhianna earned her Juris Doctor through an accelerated two-year program at Southwestern Law School on a merit scholarship and successfully passed the California Bar Exam. She is driven by a commitment to justice, public health, and meaningful accountability.

Outside of work, Rhianna enjoys visiting animal sanctuaries, watching horror films, and spending time with her large family, including her thirteen nieces and nephews.