Michael Leigh - Louisville, KY

Overview

Awards and Honors

Super Lawyers® Selectees

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Michael Leigh included in a Super Lawyers® list

Education

Pro Bono Activities

• Jewish Hospital Medical Ethics Committee, Member (2022-2025)
• Adjunct Professor of Law, University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law
• Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of the River Region, Board of Directors (2015-2019)
• Lakeside Corporation, Board of Directors (2017-2020), President (2018-2020)

Representative Cases

• Obtained reversal of three separate lower-court judgments in consolidated appeal of multimillion-dollar commercial lease dispute. SuperAsh Remainderman, LP v. Ashland, LLC, 2024 WL 4521291 (Ky. Ct. App. 2024).
• Won complete defense jury verdict on behalf of former chief sales officer of HDPE pipe fabricator against former employer alleging claims of breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and conversion related to officer’s departure from company. ISCO Industries, Inc. v. O’Neill, No. 20-CI-3079 (Jeff. Cnty. Cir. Ct. March 22, 2024).
• Won motion to dismiss on behalf of members of assisted-living facility in medical malpractice case on grounds that plaintiff could not pierce the facility’s corporate veil or otherwise sue the facility’s owners for vicarious or alter-ego liability. Mahanes v. LP Louisville East, LLC, No. 22-CI-6224 (Jeff. Cnty. Cir. Ct. Mar. 20, 2024).
• Won summary judgment in first case to interpret Kentucky’s statute prohibiting contingent-fee engagements for work to influence Kentucky state economic development incentives, finding such engagements to be illegal. Wieland Holdings, Inc. v. Synergy Tax Advisors, LLC, 2023 WL 2731046 (W.D. Ky. Mar. 30, 2023).
• Won summary judgment on behalf of LLC’s sole member preventing creditors of LLC from piercing the LLC’s corporate veil. United Parcel Service, Inc. v. Lummus Corporation, No. 19-CI-3076 (Jeff. Cnty. Cir. Ct. Mar. 6, 2023).
• Won motion to dismiss on behalf of life insurance company in case by life settlement company alleging breach of contract, and successfully defended dismissal on appeal. GWG DLP Funding V, LLC v. PHL Variable Insurance Company, 2021 WL 5413877 (D. Minn. Oct. 19, 2021), affirmed, 54 F.4th 1029 (8th Cir. Dec. 6, 2022).
• Won summary judgment and won affirmance on appeal in putative nationwide class action alleging cost-of-insurance rates were improperly raised and seeking nine-figure damages. PHT Holding I, LLC v. Security Life of Denver Ins. Co., No. 23-1326, 2024 WL 4765530 (10th Cir. Nov. 13, 2024); Advance Trust Life & Escrow Services, LTA v. Security Life of Denver Insurance Company, 2021 WL 62339 (D. Colo. Jan. 6, 2021).
• Won dismissal with prejudice of fraud, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and other claims related to vehicle service contracts and reinsurance agreements, and successfully defended the dismissal on appeal. Craig & Landreth Cars, Inc. et al. v. Protective Life Corporation et al., 2021 WL 1431870 (Ky. Ct. App. April 16, 2021).
• Won summary judgment on liability in breach of contract dispute, and defeated summary judgment motion seeking dismissal of trade secrets, fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, and conversion claims related to former senior employee’s conduct in disclosing company materials to an outside competitor and other alleged misconduct. PSC Industries, Inc. v. Johnson, 2021 WL 1663574 (M.D. Tenn. Apr. 28, 2021).
• Won summary judgment as to all class claims in multistate federal court class action litigation concerning fixed-index annuities (FIAs), and successfully defended win on appeal. Abbit v. ING USA Annuity & Life Ins. Co., 774 Fed. Appx. 294 (9th Cir. 2019); Abbit v. ING USA Annuity & Life Ins. Co., 252 F. Supp. 3d 999 (S.D. Cal. 2017); Abbit v. ING USA Annuity & Life Ins. Co., 2016 WL 4542204, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 117630 (S.D. Cal., Case No. 3:13-cv-02310, Aug. 20, 2016).
• Won appellate reversal of trial court order dismissing putative class action alleging breach of contract and fraud related to royalty payments on natural gas extraction from private property. Back v. Chesapeake Appalachia et al., 773 Fed. Appx. 294 (6th Cir. 2019).
• Won dismissal on merits of $35 million fraud, fiduciary duty, and misappropriation of trade secrets lawsuit. MHS Capital LLC v. Goggin et al., 2018 WL 2149718 (Del. Ch. May 10, 2018).
• Won dismissal of $35 million fraud and fiduciary duty lawsuit for lack of personal jurisdiction in New York state court. MHS Capital LLC v. Goggin et al., Case No. 652956/2015 (N.Y. Supreme Court, Commercial Division, New York County, May 2, 2017).

Bar Admissions

• Kentucky
• New York
• Tennessee
• Ohio
• U.S. Court of Appeals 2nd Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals 6th Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals 8th Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals 10th Circuit
• U.S. District Court District of Colorado
• U.S. District Court Northern District of Indiana
• U.S. District Court Southern District of Indiana
• U.S. District Court Southern District of Illinois
• U.S. District Court Eastern District of Kentucky
• U.S. District Court Western District of Kentucky
• U.S. District Court Eastern District of Missouri
• U.S. District Court Eastern District of New York
• U.S. Bankruptcy Court Southern District of New York
• U.S. District Court Southern District of New York
• U.S. District Court Southern District of Ohio
• U.S. District Court Middle District of Tennessee
• U.S. District Court Western District of Tennessee
• U.S. District Court Northern District of Ohio
• U.S. Court of Federal Claims

Other Affiliations

• American Bar Association
• Kentucky Bar Association
• Louisville Bar Association
• Louisville Committee on Foreign Relations