Harold (Kip) Reader
Retired Partner
Kip is a Retired Partner who served as Ulmer’s Managing Partner for more than 20 years. Highly skilled in 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 included trade secrets/unfair competition and real estate disputes. He has more than three decades of experience handling coverage and bad faith insurance claim litigation. Kip achieved the highest ranking, AV Preeminent®, from Martindale-Hubbell®, and was named to The Best Lawyers in America© and Ohio Super Lawyers list.
Education & Admissions
Education
- Brown University
(B.A., 1971)
- Case Western Reserve University
(J.D., 1974)
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
Publications & Presentations
Publications
- “Business Interruption: Insurance for Business,” Ohio CLE Institute (1995)
- “Procedural Issues in Property Insurance Subrogation; Property Insurance Subrogation From A to Z,” American Bar Association (1991)
- “Notice, Proof of Loss and Suit Requirements in First-Party Pollution-Related Claims,” American Bar Association 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,” editor, American Bar Association (1986)
Presentations
- “Managing Partner Panel,” panelist, Legal Marketing Association’s Ohio Legal Practice Development Institute (October 2014)
- 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.
Involvement
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 Metropolitan Bar Association (Chair, Unauthorized Practice of Law, 1993-94)
- Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Foundation (Fellow; Board of Trustees)
- National Society of Professional Insurance Investigators (NSPII) (Former Member of the Board of Directors and President, 1989-90)
- Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel (Faculty Member, Litigation Management College, 1997-98; Law Firm Management Conference, 2001-02)
- Defense Research Institute (DRI)
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
- Cleveland Playhouse (Board of Directors)
- 2016 Republican National Convention, Cleveland (Cleveland Host Committee, Member)
- U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum (Corporate Chair, Cleveland Benefit Luncheon, 2015)
- Leadership Cleveland (Class of 2008)
- North Coast Community Homes (Chair, Board of Trustees, 2003-05; Member of the Board, 1998-present)
- American Red Cross, Cleveland Chapter (Member, Board of Trustees; Member, Executive Committee, 2003-2012; Chair, International Relations Committee 2006-2012)
- Business Volunteers Unlimited (Member, Board of Trustees, 2003-2015)
- Case Western Reserve University School of Law (Member, Dean’s Advisory Committee, 2005-present; Society of Benchers, Chair 2009-2010; 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; Lay Leader 2007-2008 and various other positions)
- Special Assistant to U.S. Senator Howard Metzenbaum (1989)
FIRM INVOLVEMENT
- Managing Partner (1995-2016)
- Management Committee (Former Member)
- Finance Committee (Former Member)
- Ethics Committee (Former Member)
Honors
HONORS
- Recipient of the Case Western Reserve University School of Law 2017 Centennial Medal Award
- AV Preeminent Peer Review Rated – Martindale-Hubbell
- Named to the Ohio Super Lawyers list (2007-2020)
- Named to The Best Lawyers in America, Commercial Litigation; Insurance Law (2007-2021)
- Named “Cleveland Best Lawyers Insurance Lawyer of the Year” (2011)
- Society of Benchers (Case Western Reserve Law School; Chair 2008-2009)
- Fellow, American Bar Foundation
- Fellow, Tort Trial & Insurance Section, American Bar Association
- Fellow, Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association