David W. Zahniser

Biography

Dave is a trial attorney with demonstrated success in insurance defense, insurance coverage, and bad faith litigation. He devotes a significant portion of his practice to truck accident litigation and other transportation issues like cargo claims and intrastate trucking insurance coverage claims. 

Dave has tried cases throughout the Commonwealth of Kentucky, having started his practice in Lexington, Kentucky, over 24 years ago, and throughout Southwest Ohio, having relocated to Northern Kentucky in 2002. 

Dave is active nationally in the trucking defense industry, as a member of TIDA and the DRI Trucking and Insurance Coverage committees, and active in local and state bar activities. He has spoken and presented to other lawyers on insurance and transportation issues on numerous occasions. 

Dave is the team leader of the firm’s 24-7 rapid response team for truck accidents in the region.  

Education

• University of Kentucky College of Law, Lexington, Kentucky
  • J.D. – 1996
  • Journal of Natural Resources and Environmental Law, Associate Editor
• Greenville (IL) University
  • B.S., Business Management – 1987
  • Honors: cum laude, Wall Street Journal Student Leadership Award

Bar Admissions

• Kentucky
• Ohio
• U.S. Court of Appeals 6th Circuit
• U.S. District Court Eastern District of Kentucky
• U.S. District Court Western District of Kentucky
• U.S. District Court Southern District of Ohio

Professional Associations

• Trucking Industry Defense Association (TIDA)
• Defense Research Institute (DRI), Trucking Law & Insurance Coverage Committees
• Ohio Association of Civil Trial Attorneys (OACTA)
• Kentucky Bar Association, House of Delegates, 2005
• Northern Kentucky Bar Association

Honors

Representative Cases

• Dave recently obtained summary judgment on a bad faith claim brought in a truck accident case in Fayette County, Kentucky, and successfully defended the judgment on appeal., Corio v. Nat’l Specialty Ins. Co., 2019 Ky. App. Unpub. LEXIS 345.
• Dave recently obtained a reversal of a summary judgment on appeal in favor of a UIM insurer in the Court of Appeals of Kentucky. Motorists Mut. Ins. Co. v. Lanigan, 2023 Ky. App. Unpub. LEXIS 147.
• Dave also obtained summary judgment in federal court on behalf of an insurance carrier that no coverage applied in a multi-million dollar construction dispute. First Mercury Ins. Co. v. ARMR Grp., 617 F.Supp.3d 694 (E.D. Ky. 2022). 
• Dave obtained summary judgment on a bad faith claim brought in a truck accident case in Fayette County, Kentucky, and successfully defended the judgment on appeal. Corio v. Nat’l Specialty Ins. Co., 2019 Ky. App. Unpub. LEXIS 345.
• Dave helped establish quasi-judicial immunity for court-appointed custody evaluators. Stone v. Glass, 35 S.W.2d 827 (Ky. App. 2000).