Ulmer & Berne LLP

Harold (Kip) Reader

Managing Partner

Complex Business
Insurance Coverage
Class Actions
Product Liability

Cleveland Office
p 216.583.7380
f 216.583.7381

kreader@ulmer.com

At a Glance

As managing partner, Kip ensures an integrated management and leadership approach to the firm’s development, client service, business and operations. His areas of practice concentration include business litigation and insurance coverage litigation. He has extensive experience in contract and transactional disputes, professional liability, employment disputes and business issues. His business litigation practice also includes trade secrets/unfair competition and real estate disputes. He has over 30 years of experience in handling coverage and bad faith insurance claim litigation.

Practices/Industries

Litigation
Class Actions
Complex Business
Insurance Coverage
Product Liability

Areas of Concentration

Complex Business Litigation

Contracts and Commercial Disputes
Trade Secrets/Unfair Competition
ERISA/Benefits
Professional Liability
Real Estate Disputes

Insurance Coverage Litigation

Business Insurance Coverage
Liability Issues
Subrogation
Bad Faith Matters

Education

Brown University (B.A., 1971)

Case Western Reserve University (J.D., 1974)

Representative Experience

Extensive experience in contract and transactional disputes, professional liability, ERISA litigation, employment disputes and business issues.
Extensive experience since 1974 in handling third-party coverage and defense and first-party insurance claims, including arson, fraud, business interruption, bad faith, and coverage disputes throughout Ohio and other jurisdictions.
Extensive experience since 1974 in appellate courts (more than 125 reported and unreported decisions).

Honors & Distinctions

AV Rated - Martindale-Hubbell

Named to "Ohio Super Lawyers" in a survey of Ohio lawyers by Law & Politics and Cincinnati magazines (January 2007 and 2008)

Named to Best Lawyers in America, Commercial Litigation, Woodward/White (2007 and 2008)

Society of Benchers (Case Western Reserve Law School)

Publications & Presentations

Presentations
Speaker at various seminars sponsored by the Defense Research Institute, American Bar Association, Ohio State Bar Association, National Society of Professional Insurance Investigators, Inc. and other organizations.

Publications
”Business Interruption: Insurance for Business”, (Ohio CLE Institute 1995)
“Procedural Issues in Property Insurance Subrogation; Property Insurance Subrogation From A to Z”, (ABA, 1991)
“Notice, Proof of Loss and Suit Requirements in First-Party Pollution-Related Claims”, (ABA Monograph 1989)
“Modern-Day Actual Cash Value: Is It What the Insurers Intend?” 22 Tort & Insurance Law Journal (1987)
“The One-Year Suit Limitation in Fire Insurance Policies”, 29 Forum 24 (1983)
“Bad Faith and Punitive Damages: Annotations to First-Party Cases, Statutes, and Regulations”, (ABA, 1986) (Editor)

Professional Affiliations

American Bar Association (Chair, Trial Tort & Insurance Practice Section, 1998-99; Chair, Property Insurance Law Committee, 1987-88; Chair, National Institutes, 1991-93; Member of Governing Council, 1993-96; Chair, ABA's Committee on Gun Violence, 2005-06; Member 1993-96; Member, Litigation and Law Firm Management Sections)

Ohio State Bar Association

Cleveland Bar Association (Chair, Unauthorized Practice of Law, 1993-94)

National Society of Professional Insurance Investigators (Former Member of the Board of Directors and President, 1989-90)

Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel (Faculty Member, Litigation Management College, 1997-98; Presenter at Law Firm Management Conference, 2001-02)

Ohio Association of Civil Trial Attorneys

Defense Research Institute

Community Involvement

North Coast Community Homes (Chair, Board of Trustees, 2003-05; Member of the Board, 1998-2006)

American Red Cross, Cleveland Chapter (Member, Board of Trustees; Member, Executive Committee, 2003-present)

Business Volunteers Unlimited (Member, Board of Trustees, 2003-present)

Case Western Reserve University School of Law (Member, Dean's Advisory Committee, 2005-present; Member, Visiting Committee, 1997-2004); (Co-Chair, Annual Fund Campaigns, 2005-07)

Cuyahoga County Grand Jury (Foreman, 2004)

Epworth-Euclid Methodist Church (Chairman, Administrative Board, 1988-1991 and various other positions)

Special Assistant to U.S. Senator Howard Metzenbaum (1989)

Admissions

State of Ohio
U.S. Supreme Court
U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit
U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio
U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio