Kimberly Buffington

Kimberly Buffington, a Pillsbury partner and noted class action, trial and appellate lawyer, has a proven track record of securing multimillion-dollar awards for her clients. Skilled in trials, appeals and arbitrations, Kim has been successfully litigating consumer class actions and complex intellectual property, insurance coverage and commercial cases for 20+ years.

Co-leader of Pillsbury’s Internet and Social Media team, Kim regularly represents technology companies, startups and other businesses in social media and copyright-related matters.

She asserts and defends trademark, privacy rights and licensing disputes for recording artists, radio stations, and entertainment companies, and has recovered $50+ million for insurance policyholders.

REPRESENTATIVE EXPERIENCE :

• Defended class actions and mass torts involving plumbing parts alleging false advertising and California Consumer Legal Remedies Act violations. Defeated class certification and consolidated federal cases into a multidistrict litigation.
• Represented a large technology client in a copyright infringement matter. Secured a dismissal with prejudice.
• Negotiated insurance coverage for the defense of a class action against a technology company and obtained indemnification for the client’s settlement payment.
• Successfully obtained dismissal of national and multistate class claims on behalf of a California-based healthy baked goods company in a consumer class action alleging false and deceptive labeling of its cookie products.
• Secured a multi-million dollar recovery as contract damages following a six-week arbitration in New York.
• Conducted a two-week trial in federal court involving copyright claims that ultimately settled at the close of trial.
• Mediated and obtained a multi-million dollar recovery for a fast food chain following the insurance carrier’s wrongful denial of coverage for a wage and hour class action.
• Obtained a multi-million dollar arbitration award to recover an insured’s portion of the settlement proceeds paid by the carrier to a co-insured.

EDUCATION :

• J.D., University of Michigan Law School, 1997
• B.A., Pomona College, 1994

ADMISSIONS : California

COURTS :

• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• U.S. District Court for the Central, Northern, Eastern and Southern Districts of California
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit