PROFESSIONALS

Kimberly A. Hartman

Partner
blank image Kimberly A. Hartman
10 South Wacker Drive
21st Floor
Chicago, IL 60606, US

T: 312.585.1414 F: 312.585.1401

Kim is an experienced appellate attorney. Over the past 15 years, she has focused her practice on trial, post-trial, and appellate proceedings. She has successfully litigated insurance coverage, construction defect, product liability, professional liability, premises liability, and first-party property matters before state and federal courts across the nation.
When hired as trial monitoring counsel, Kim collaborates with defense counsel to develop, draft, and argue dispositive pre-trial motions, motions in limine, jury instructions, verdict forms, and post-trial motions. She assists in developing key themes and strategies, setting the stage for successful trial outcomes and properly postured and preserved appeals.

Memberships

  • Appellate Lawyer's Association
  • Defense Research Institute
  • Asian American Bar Association
  • American Bar Association, Appellate Advocacy Section

Awards & Rankings

  • Illinois Super Lawyers (Appellate), 2022 – 2024
  • Rising Star, Illinois Super Lawyers®, 2011 – 2013, 2016

Before Nicolaides

Kim started her legal career as a trial attorney, defending clients against product liability, construction defect, contract, premises liability, and commercial trucking actions. That experience provides a foundation upon which she has built a successful trial monitoring and appellate practice.

Outside Nicolaides

Kim enjoys spending time with her husband and children. Her weekends are filled with swim lessons, soccer games, dance classes, bike rides, and lots of time outdoors. During rare moments of solitude, Kim enjoys reading, gardening, and binge-watching Netflix.

EXPERIENCE

APPELLATE EXPERIENCE

  • Obtained reversal on appeal and entry of summary judgment in a premises liability action.
  • Briefed and argued case before the Kentucky Supreme Court in which the State of Kentucky adopted the economic loss rule.
  • Briefed and argued case of first impression before the Massachusetts Supreme Court regarding priority of insurance coverage.
  • Prosecuted Seventh Circuit appeal on issue of first impression related to "insider status" of an LLC member under the United States Bankruptcy Code.
  • Persuaded appellate court to uphold an "any auto" policy exclusion, precluding insurance coverage for snow removal operations for an accident involving a parked vehicle.
  • Negotiated favorable settlement after a successful oral argument, saving millions off of a multi-million jury verdict.
  • Obtained affirmance of judgment in favor of defendant based upon the jury’s answer to a special interrogatory which was inconsistent with its verdict in favor of plaintiff in a wrongful death/survival action.
  • Obtained affirmance of summary judgment on behalf of insurer under an “other vehicles” exclusion in a commercial auto policy.
  • Obtained judgment and finding of no insurance in a marine coverage appeal involving the collapse of an underwater, delaminated structural dock.
  • Successfully defended school district on appeal from federal due-process claims related to student gang activity.
  • Obtained affirmance of judgment for non-supervisory contractor in an appeal interpreting New York’s Labor Law Code.
  • Successfully prosecuted professional liability appeal in which the loss causation doctrine was extended to preclude liability against a financial planner for his client’s stock market losses.
  • Obtained affirmance of judgment in favor of insurer in a dram shop action based upon an auto exclusion in the insured restaurant’s CGL policy.
 

TRIAL MONITORING EXPERIENCE

  • Assisted in pre-trial and trial proceedings, and monitored trial in a vehicle roll-over accident resulting in quadriplegia, involving a successful motion for mistrial and subsequent favorable settlement.
  • Assisted with trial strategy, and wrote and argued key motions in limine, with trial ending in a defense verdict in a catastrophic brain injury action.
  • Assisted in monitoring trial and drafting post-trial briefs resulting in judgment notwithstanding the verdict in favor of defendant in a paralysis case, affirmed on appeal.
  • Monitored numerous personal injury lawsuits to assist insurers in analyzing witnesses and evidence in real-time for exposure and settlement purposes.
INSIGHTS

ADDITIONAL SPEAKING & WRITING

  • "Whistleblower Retaliation Claims in the Dodd-Frank Era: Defenses that Work and Defenses that Don't," Corporate Counsel Review, April 10, 2012.
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