Bar Admissions

District of Columbia

North Carolina 

Education

Stanford University, J.D., with distinction, 2007, Order of the Coif; Articles Editor, Stanford Law Review, 2006-07

Harvard College, B.A., summa cum laude, 2004, Phi Beta Kappa; Detur Prize; John Harvard Scholarship

Profile

Erik Zimmerman guides clients through complex litigation and appeals. He has helped companies, universities and individuals navigate antitrust suits, class actions and other high-stakes disputes in courts across the country. Erik's recent experience ranges from helping a large financial institution win dismissal of a proposed class action concerning its account fees to filing an amicus brief on behalf of four former North Carolina governors in a constitutional challenge to partisan gerrymandering.

Erik has particular experience in appellate litigation, drawing on his experience as a law clerk for Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. of the U.S. Supreme Court and Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III of the Fourth Circuit. He has argued appeals in the Fourth Circuit and the North Carolina appellate courts, and has filed briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court and appellate courts nationwide. Erik also co-chairs the firm's Appeals Practice Group and serves on the North Carolina Bar Association's Appellate Rules Committee and Appellate Practice Section Council.

Before joining Robinson Bradshaw, Erik practiced with Gibson Dunn in Washington, D.C.

Honors & Awards

Clerkships

  • Law Clerk, The Honorable John G. Roberts Jr., Chief Justice, Supreme Court of the United States, 2009-10
  • Law Clerk, The Honorable J. Harvie Wilkinson III, U.S. Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit, 2008-09

Experience

Experience

  • Appellate and Constitutional

  • Argued appeals in the Fourth Circuit, the North Carolina Supreme Court and the North Carolina Court of Appeals on a variety of issues, including issues of constitutional law.

  • Represented North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper in litigation challenging the legislature's ballot language relating to proposed amendments to the North Carolina Constitution. Successfully argued a motion for preliminary injunction before a three-judge panel.

  • Submitted several amicus briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court, including a brief for the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law about judicial review of partisan gerrymandering.

  • Submitted an amicus brief in North Carolina court on behalf of four former North Carolina governors in a constitutional challenge to state legislative districts that were politically gerrymandered.

  • Successfully represented a federal contractor in the U.S. Supreme Court in a False Claims Act case.

  • Filed several petitions for writ of certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court, including a petition for a medical device manufacturer on an issue of federal preemption of state law.

  • Successfully appealed a judgment of nearly $100 million to the Fourth Circuit in an insurance contract dispute.

  • Persuaded the D.C. Circuit to overturn an FCC ruling against a cable television provider under the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

  • Filed a petition for discretionary review in the North Carolina Supreme Court in a pro bono matter involving a landlord-tenant dispute.

  • Antitrust and Competition

  • Defends the largest health care provider in the Carolinas in a suit in the North Carolina Business Court involving antitrust and trade secret claims.

  • Defended a leading research university in a class action in North Carolina federal court involving an alleged no-hire agreement.

  • Defended a large drywall company in multidistrict class action litigation involving antitrust claims brought by direct and indirect purchasers.

  • Defends a large poultry company in class action litigation involving antitrust claims brought in North Carolina federal court.

  • Represented Fresenius Medical Care in the $2.15 billion sale of Sound Physicians, a hospitalist company, to a consortium led by Summit Partners. Transaction was cleared without the issuance of a Second Request.

  • Class Actions

  • Defended a large financial institution in a proposed class action concerning its account fees. Successfully argued a motion to dismiss the suit.

  • Defended an aerospace company in a class action brought by employees and labor unions under ERISA and the Labor Management Relations Act.

  • Represented the independent directors of a financial services company in a class action involving ERISA claims brought by participants in the company's retirement plan.

  • Defended an accounting firm against class action claims under the federal securities laws.

  • Complex Commercial Litigation

  • Defended a leading research university against litigation in the North Carolina Business Court involving allegations of research misconduct.

  • Represented the plaintiffs in a North Carolina Business Court case involving claims of misappropriation of trade secrets, breach of fiduciary duty, and misappropriation of corporate opportunity in the used textile recycling industry. Successfully argued against the defendants' motions to dismiss. New Friendship Used Clothing Collection, LLC v. Katz, 2017 NCBC 71 (N.C. Super. Ct. 2017).

  • Secured dismissal of a False Claims Act suit against a health insurance company.

  • Obtained dismissal of a multibillion-dollar breach of contract action against a social networking company.

News & Events

News

Events

Insights

Affiliations

Professional Affiliations

  • North Carolina Bar Association, Appellate Section Council, 2018-present
  • North Carolina Bar Association, Appellate Rules Committee, 2017-present
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