Kerin Lyn Kaminski is an experienced trial lawyer with a demonstrated history of solving complex problems in commercial and civil litigation. Kerin has over thirty years of experience handling trust, employment, real estate, and financial services litigation for Fortune 500 companies and other corporate clients.

Prior to joining Perez Morris in 2022, Kerin was managing partner of women-owned law firm Giffen & Kaminski, which was named by Crain’s as one of the top 19 businesses in Northeast Ohio that successfully focused on diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Along with co-founder Karen L. Giffen, Kerin founded the Cleveland firm in 2004, which was quickly established as a go-to law firm for business litigation, employment litigation and counseling, tort and insurance defense, financial services litigation, and investigations.

Kerin is passionate about leveling the playing field for women in the legal profession and beyond and believes that community service is an important part of a lawyer’s life. Kerin served as the third female President of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, and past Chair of the organization’s Commission on Women in the Law. She is a recipient of the Greater Cleveland YWCA Women of Achievement Award and is a past President and Board Member of the Hitchcock House for Women.

Kerin served as the past Chair of the Financial Services Litigation Practice Area Committee for the National Association of Minority & Women Owned Law Firms. She was a Cleveland Faculty member of the National Institute of Trial Advocacy and is a frequent author and presenter on topics ranging from attorney-client privilege to deposition and trial skills.

Admissions

Ohio

Supreme Court of Ohio, 1985

U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio, 1985

U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio, 2004

U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit, 1989

U.S. Supreme Court, 2020

Memberships & Affiliations

• Eighth District Judicial Conference, Life Member
• Litigation Counsel of America, Fellow
• Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Foundation
• Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association
• National Association of Minority and Women-Owned Law Firms (NAMWOLF), Member
• In Counsel with Women, Member

Presentations

• Presenter, “I Dissent,” Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Maltz Museum and Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association
• Social Media as Evidence, Association of Corporate Counsel
• How In-House Counsel Can Preserve The Attorney-Client Privilege Even In The Age Of Social Media, American Association of Corporate Counsel
• The Attorney-Client Privilege for In-House Counsel, American Association of Corporate Counsel
• Probate and Trust Litigation Issues, Lorman
• Facilitator, NITA Cleveland Depositions Skills Workshop
• TROs & Preliminary Injunctions, State & Federal, Ohio CLE Institute
• On Point, Sharpening Your Deposition Skills, Professional Education Systems
• Winning Without Losing Your Professionalism, Ohio CLE Institute
• The Woman Litigator, Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association

PUBLICATIONS

• A Woman’s Way, Women Legal Magazine
• Probate Litigation Issues and Trends, Probate Law Journal

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

• The Best Lawyers in America®, 2014-present
• Martindale-Hubbell® AV Preeminent®
• Ohio Super Lawyers Magazine, Ohio Super Lawyer, 2005-present
  • Top 50 Women Lawyers in Ohio
  • Top 25 Women Lawyers in Cleveland
  • Super Lawyer, Nationwide Business Edition
  • Super Lawyer, Nationwide Corporate Counsel Edition
• Cleveland Magazine, Top Attorneys in Cleveland & Columbus, 2022
• Greater Cleveland YWCA, Women of Achievement Award, 2017
• Leadership Cleveland Class of 2010
• Crain’s Women of Note, 2007
• Living Legend, Hall of Fame – Cleveland-Marshall College of Law
• Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, Women Honoring Women Award
• Crain’s Top Executives and Notable Women In Law
• Ohio Women’s Bar Association, Founders Award
• The American Lawyer Magazine and Corporate Counsel, Top Rated Lawyer
• The American Lawyer Magazine, Women Leaders in the Law
• Inside Business, Leading Lawyer
• Northern Ohio Live, Rainmaker Award

BOARD POSITIONS & COMMUNITY SERVICE

• Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Foundation, Board Member, 2015-present
• Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association
  • President, 2007-2008
  • President Elect, 2006-2007
  • Trustee, 1997-1999
  • Past Member, Judicial Review Committee
  • Past Chair, Commission for Women in Law
• National Association of Minority and Women Owned Law Firms
  • Past Chair, Financial Services Practice Area Committee
  • Past Chair, Practice Management Committee
• Co-chair, Eighth District Judicial Conference
• Hitchcock House For Women, past President and Board Member