Kevin P. Zimmerman

Associate

Columbus
T +1.614.462.2664
F +1.614.462.2616

Overview

Kevin Zimmerman focuses his practice on insurance class action litigation, representing insurance and financial services firms across the property and casualty, life and health sectors. He has represented companies in state-specific and nationwide class actions involving breach of contract claims, the False Claims Act, unclaimed property laws and consumer protection laws. He also has extensive experience handling reinsurance litigations and arbitrations stemming from longtail liability claims. Kevin undertakes a thorough mastery of the case file in order to guide clients through the litigation process and provides thoughtful, workable solutions for each litigation obstacle or challenge. He is also an advocate for pro bono work and most recently represented a heart transplant patient in a Section 1983 litigation against prison officials for deprivation of necessary medical care.

Kevin has experience drafting dispositive motions, appellate briefs, oppositions to class certification and other key motions and briefs. He has successfully argued dispositive and non-dispositive motions at court hearings, conducted and defended fact and expert witness depositions and presented witnesses at arbitration. Kevin has also managed all aspects of discovery, including overseeing outside e-discovery teams and coordinating preparation of expert witness reports.

Select Experience

  • Obtained full summary judgment on bad faith and breach of contract claims in putative class action challenging automobile insurer’s valuation methodology for total loss vehicle claims. Fortson v. Garrison Prop. & Cas. Co., No. 1:19-CV-294, 2022 WL 501324 (M.D.N.C. Jan. 21, 2022) (breach of contract); Fortson v. Garrison Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co., No. 1:19-CV-294, 2022 WL 198782 (M.D.N.C. Jan. 13, 2022) (bad faith).
  • Secured amendment of prior court order to permit interlocutory appeal under 28 U.S.C. § 1292, leading to favorable class settlement of claims concerning components of total loss automobile insurance payments. Cavallaro v. United Services Automobile Association, No. 1:20-CV-00414, Dkt. 83 (S.D. Ohio, Jan. 14, 2022).
  • Defeated summary judgment on key claims, upheld full admissibility of experts’ opinions and excluded portions of opposing expert opinions in pro bono case involving heart transplant patient’s denial of medical care while incarcerated. Dixon v. Brown, No. 3:16-CV-01222-GCS, 2021 WL 1171657 (S.D. Ill. Mar. 29, 2021) (summary judgment); Dixon v. Brown, No. 3:16-CV-01222-GCS, 2021 WL 2099166 (S.D. Ill. Mar. 30, 2021) (admissibility of experts).

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Experience

  • Obtained full summary judgment on bad faith and breach of contract claims in putative class action challenging automobile insurer’s valuation methodology for total loss vehicle claims. Fortson v. Garrison Prop. & Cas. Co., No. 1:19-CV-294, 2022 WL 501324 (M.D.N.C. Jan. 21, 2022) (breach of contract); Fortson v. Garrison Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co., No. 1:19-CV-294, 2022 WL 198782 (M.D.N.C. Jan. 13, 2022) (bad faith).
  • Secured amendment of prior court order to permit interlocutory appeal under 28 U.S.C. § 1292, leading to favorable class settlement of claims concerning components of total loss automobile insurance payments. Cavallaro v. United Services Automobile Association, No. 1:20-CV-00414, Dkt. 83 (S.D. Ohio, Jan. 14, 2022).
  • Defeated summary judgment on key claims, upheld full admissibility of experts’ opinions and excluded portions of opposing expert opinions in pro bono case involving heart transplant patient’s denial of medical care while incarcerated. Dixon v. Brown, No. 3:16-CV-01222-GCS, 2021 WL 1171657 (S.D. Ill. Mar. 29, 2021) (summary judgment); Dixon v. Brown, No. 3:16-CV-01222-GCS, 2021 WL 2099166 (S.D. Ill. Mar. 30, 2021) (admissibility of experts).
  • Achieved full relief for cedent in reinsurance arbitration relating to longtail liability asbestos clams.
  • Defeated reinsurer’s motion for summary judgment in reinsurance dispute over longtail liability asbestos claims. Utica Mut. Ins. Co. v. Clearwater Ins. Co., No. 6:13-CV-1178, 2019 WL 3340644 (N.D.N.Y. July 25, 2019).
  • Representing national automobile insurer in putative class actions across the country where plaintiffs challenge insurer’s valuation methodology for total loss vehicle claims.
  • Representing national automobile insurer in putative class action involving alleged disclosure of protected health information.
  • Representing multiple automobile insurers in putative class actions pertaining to disclosure and calculation of Uninsured Motorist / Underinsured Motorist insurance coverage.
  • Representing property insurer in putative class action involving the calculation of depreciation for property damage claims.
  • Represented multiple national life insurance companies in nationwide “cost of insurance” class actions pending in federal courts.
  • Represented property and casualty insurance companies in appeal to the Seventh Circuit concerning an underlying arbitration award.
  • Represented two national life insurance companies, and affiliates, in False Claims Act litigation in New York state court.
  • Represented multiple cedents in facultative reinsurance disputes against foreign and domestic reinsurers in federal court, state court and arbitration.

Recognitions and Memberships

Memberships

  • American Bar Association

Pro Bono

  • Represented a former inmate on a pro bono basis in a Section 1983 Deliberate Indifference of Medical Claims against prison officials for deprivation of necessary medical care relating to heart transplant treatment.

Prior Positions

  • Associate in the Chicago office of a leading international law firm (2017 to 2021)
  • The Honorable Julie E. Carnes, U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit: Judicial Law Clerk (2016 to 2017)
  • The Honorable Mark R. Hornak, U.S. District Court, Western District of Pennsylvania (2015 to 2016)

Admissions

  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of New York
  • U.S. District Court, District of New Mexico
  • U.S. District Court, Western District of Oklahoma
  • Ohio
  • Illinois

Education

  • J.D., University of Chicago Law School, 2015, High Honors; Topic Access and Recruitment Editor, The University of Chicago Law Review
  • Honors B.A., University of Dayton, 2012, summa cum laude

Blog

In The Blogs

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Class Action Lawsuit Defense
BakerHostetler Releases Insurance Class Action Quarterly Report – 2022 Q4
March 8, 2023
BakerHostetler released its Insurance Class Action Quarterly Report for 2022 Quarter 4, devolving trends in the insurance class action space from the past quarter. We witnessed further development of total loss, uninsured/underinsured...
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Class Action Lawsuit Defense
BakerHostetler Files Amicus Brief on Behalf of Ohio Chamber of Commerce
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As predicted back in March 2022, class litigation related to Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a group of man-made chemicals that have been widely used in various industrial and consumer products, have skyrocketed over the last...
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Class Action Lawsuit Defense
Eleventh Circuit Stands Firm – No Incentive Awards for Class Representatives
By Kamran B. Ahmadian
August 12, 2022
Nearly two years after it issued its initial decision in Johnson v. NPAS Sols., LLC, in which it held incentive awards for class representatives to be per se unlawful, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit denied a...
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Class Action Lawsuit Defense
Florida Requires Concrete Injury For Standing - Class Action Defense
By Joel Griswold
July 14, 2022
On July 13, 2022, the Florida District Court of Appeal for the Fourth District affirmed an order dismissing a putative class action filed under the federal Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) for lack of standing. Southam v...
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Class Action Lawsuit Defense
The Demand Curve Problem for UCL Class Actions
By Brian A. Troyer
June 1, 2022
A recent opinion from a California federal court, Mier v. CVS Pharmacy, Inc. et al., No. 8:20-cv-01979-DOC-ADS, slip op. (C.D. Cal. May 9, 2022),touches on an aspect of econometric modeling that class action defense counsel should...
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