Ripegno, Sarah Ann

Kim Rinehart is a member of the Firm's Litigation Practice. She focuses her practice on appeals, complex civil litigation, and legal malpractice defense. She has played an instrumental role in numerous appeals to the Connecticut Appellate and Supreme Courts, including a major employment victory in which the Connecticut Supreme Court held that university faculty members must exhaust internal grievance procedures before filing suit. More recently, Kim successfully argued an appeal on behalf of a major health care system in which the Appellate Court affirmed the denial of class certification in a case challenging hospital billing, collection and charity care policies. That appeal built upon Kim's substantial experience defending class action lawsuits, including several suits challenging hospital practices and policies.

Kim authors Wiggin and Dana's Supreme Court Update, an e-mail service providing clients and friends of the firm with timely, insightful summaries of recent Supreme Court decisions. Kim also publishes an annual Term in Review, compiling all of the Term's case summaries in a handy guide, and providing her "take" on the Justices, the cases, and the year in general. Kim has also published articles on federal and state class action practice.

Kim joined the firm following a clerkship with the Honorable Stephen V. Wilson, United States District Judge for the Central District of California. She received her J.D. from the Yale Law School, and graduated with Highest Distinction from the University of Michigan, where she received her Bachelor of Arts in Economics and English Literature.

With Wiggin and Dana's support, Kim took a leave of absence in 2002 to expand a local nonprofit, All Our Kin, creating a new program to provide business, legal and educational support to low-income family child care providers. Kim co-founded All Our Kin in law school and remains a Board Member and volunteer.