D. Larry Kristinik, III

Partner

Meridian
1320 Main Street
17th Floor
Columbia, SC 29201

T 803.255.9531
F 803.255.9077

larry.kristinik@nelsonmullins.com

D. Larry Kristinik practices in the areas of business litigation, class action defense, insurance coverage and bad faith claims, defense of investor securities claims, and FINRA broker-dealer arbitrations. Mr. Kristinik is the Chair of the firm's Insurance Industry Practice Group and also serves as the assistant group leader of the firm's Litigation Group.

Mr. Kristinik has been admitted pro hac vice in state and federal courts in Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Utah, and West Virginia. He has also appeared in arbitration proceedings in seven states and D.C., and has had arbitration trials in South Carolina, North Carolina, and Massachusetts.

been admitted pro hac vice in state and federal courts in Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Utah, and West Virginia. He has also appeared in arbitration proceedings in seven states and D.C., and has had arbitration trials in South Carolina, North Carolina, and Massachusetts.

Experience

Following is a selected sampling of matters and is provided for informational purposes only. Past success does not indicate the likelihood of success in any future matter.

Complex Litigation and Class Action Defense

Served as counsel in two multidistrict litigation proceedings (In re Industrial Life Insurance Litigation, MDL No. 1429 and In re Electrical Receptacle Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 1595)
Served as counsel defending class actions involving the Telephone Consumer Protection Act ("TCPA"), electrical utilities, cable television services, insurance marketing practices, consumer finance, and economic loss ("no injury") products liability claims
Defended individual class member opt-out claims
Served along with other Firm attorneys as national coordinating counsel for three different companies

Life, Health, and Disability Insurance

Represents life, health, and disability insurance companies in litigation and regulatory matters
Defended bad faith claims, asserted rescission claims based on material misrepresentations, litigated beneficiary, policy administration, and dividend election issues, and brought interpleader actions in federal and state court
Experience defending annuity suitability claims, claims involving variable and whole life products
Litigated slayer statute issues, claims on conditional receipts, intoxication exclusions, suicide exclusions, mental disorder limitations, and accidental death and disability claims
Advises insurers with respect to DOI reporting issues, responding to DOI and Attorney General investigations, and the handling of agent misconduct matters, including advice regarding E&O and fidelity bond coverage
Provides advice with respect to claims investigations and decisions to pay claims

FINRA Broker-Dealer Representation

Experience defending broker-dealers, registered investment advisors, banks, and wealth managers against customer claims involving ponzi schemes, supervision, suitability, unauthorized trading, churning, misrepresentation, selling away, and violation of state and federal securities laws
Experience with a variety of investment products, including variable prepaid forward contracts, unit investment trusts, variable annuities, variable life policies, mutual funds, limited partnership interests, oil and gas well interests, as well as individual stocks and bonds
Represented broker-dealers, RIAs, and banks with respect to investigations by state regulatory agencies and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA, formerly NASD)
Defended individual financial advisor wrongful termination claims, and claims for unvested deferred compensation, and prosecuted arbitrations to collect on promissory notes and bonus repayment agreements

Education

University of South Carolina School of Law, JD, cum laude (1992)
- National Moot Court Team
- Member of the student editorial board of the ABA Real Property, Probate and Trust Journal
- Order of the Coif
- Order of Barristers
- Order of Wig and Robe
- Received the American Jurisprudence Award in Federal Practice
University of South Carolina, Honors College, BS, Accounting, magna cum laude (1989)
- Phi Beta Kappa
- Omicron Delta Kappa
- Mortar Board

Admissions

South Carolina
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina

Practice Areas

Industries

Following is a selected sampling of matters and is provided for informational purposes only. Past success does not indicate the likelihood of success in any future matter.

Complex Litigation and Class Action Defense

Served as counsel in two multidistrict litigation proceedings (In re Industrial Life Insurance Litigation, MDL No. 1429 and In re Electrical Receptacle Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 1595)
Served as counsel defending class actions involving the Telephone Consumer Protection Act ("TCPA"), electrical utilities, cable television services, insurance marketing practices, consumer finance, and economic loss ("no injury") products liability claims
Defended individual class member opt-out claims
Served along with other Firm attorneys as national coordinating counsel for three different companies

Life, Health, and Disability Insurance

Represents life, health, and disability insurance companies in litigation and regulatory matters
Defended bad faith claims, asserted rescission claims based on material misrepresentations, litigated beneficiary, policy administration, and dividend election issues, and brought interpleader actions in federal and state court
Experience defending annuity suitability claims, claims involving variable and whole life products
Litigated slayer statute issues, claims on conditional receipts, intoxication exclusions, suicide exclusions, mental disorder limitations, and accidental death and disability claims
Advises insurers with respect to DOI reporting issues, responding to DOI and Attorney General investigations, and the handling of agent misconduct matters, including advice regarding E&O and fidelity bond coverage
Provides advice with respect to claims investigations and decisions to pay claims

FINRA Broker-Dealer Representation

Experience defending broker-dealers, registered investment advisors, banks, and wealth managers against customer claims involving ponzi schemes, supervision, suitability, unauthorized trading, churning, misrepresentation, selling away, and violation of state and federal securities laws
Experience with a variety of investment products, including variable prepaid forward contracts, unit investment trusts, variable annuities, variable life policies, mutual funds, limited partnership interests, oil and gas well interests, as well as individual stocks and bonds
Represented broker-dealers, RIAs, and banks with respect to investigations by state regulatory agencies and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA, formerly NASD)
Defended individual financial advisor wrongful termination claims, and claims for unvested deferred compensation, and prosecuted arbitrations to collect on promissory notes and bonus repayment agreements

Articles & Speeches

Visit Idea Exchange

Recognitions

The bar rules of some states require that the standards for an attorney’s inclusion in certain public accolades or recognitions be provided. When such accolades or recognitions are listed, a hyperlink is provided that leads to a description of the respective selection methodology.

The Best Lawyers in America® -- Commercial Litigation (2007 - 2018)
AV peer review rated by Martindale Hubbell

Professional Activities

Program Chair for the annual CLE conference of the DRI Life Health Disability & ERISA Committee to be held in Boston in April 2018
Former chair of the American Law Firm Association Insurance Law Practice Group (2011-2013)
Frequent speaker at national conferences sponsored by DRI, ACI, ECC, and ICA on disability and life insurance litigation
Member, Association of Life Insurance Counsel (2011-present)
Program Chair, 2018 DRI Life Health Disability and ERISA Conference, Boston
Co-chair, Membership and Marketing Committee of the ABA Section of Litigation (2017-present)
Member of the ABA Council for Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Education Pipeline (2015-2017)
Member of the Council of the ABA Section of Litigation (2014-2017)
Fellow, American Bar Foundation (2014-present)
Managing Director for the ABA Section of Litigation (2012-2013)
Chair, Insurance Law Practice Group of the American Law Firm Association (2011-2013)
Chair, Insurance Law Roundtable for the 2007 ALFA Insurance Law Practice Group Conference in New York
DRI's Life, Health, and Disability Committee (Program Chair for April 2018 CLE Annual Conference; Chair, Webcast Subcommittee, 2013-2015); Vice-Chair, membership subcommittee, (2015-present)
Served as a vice chair of the ABA Section of Litigation Committee on Corporate Counsel (2009-2011)
Served as co-editor of In-House Litigator, the quarterly journal for the Committee on Corporate Counsel (2005-2007)
Co-chair of the 2009 ABA Section of Litigation Annual Conference in Atlanta, Georgia
Served as a co-chair of the Content Management Committee of the ABA Section of Litigation (2010-2011)
Served in the House of Delegates of the S.C. Bar (1999-2001)

Overview

Mr. Kristinik has... been admitted pro hac vice in state and federal courts in Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Utah, and West Virginia. He has also appeared in arbitration proceedings in seven states and D.C., and has had arbitration trials in South Carolina, North Carolina, and Massachusetts.

Experience

Following is a selected sampling of matters and is provided for informational purposes only. Past success does not indicate the likelihood of success in any future matter.

Complex Litigation and Class Action Defense

Served as counsel in two multidistrict litigation proceedings (In re Industrial Life Insurance Litigation, MDL No. 1429 and In re Electrical Receptacle Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 1595)
Served as counsel defending class actions involving the Telephone Consumer Protection Act ("TCPA"), electrical utilities, cable television services, insurance marketing practices, consumer finance, and economic loss ("no injury") products liability claims
Defended individual class member opt-out claims
Served along with other Firm attorneys as national coordinating counsel for three different companies

Life, Health, and Disability Insurance

Represents life, health, and disability insurance companies in litigation and regulatory matters
Defended bad faith claims, asserted rescission claims based on material misrepresentations, litigated beneficiary, policy administration, and dividend election issues, and brought interpleader actions in federal and state court
Experience defending annuity suitability claims, claims involving variable and whole life products
Litigated slayer statute issues, claims on conditional receipts, intoxication exclusions, suicide exclusions, mental disorder limitations, and accidental death and disability claims
Advises insurers with respect to DOI reporting issues, responding to DOI and Attorney General investigations, and the handling of agent misconduct matters, including advice regarding E&O and fidelity bond coverage
Provides advice with respect to claims investigations and decisions to pay claims

FINRA Broker-Dealer Representation

Experience defending broker-dealers, registered investment advisors, banks, and wealth managers against customer claims involving ponzi schemes, supervision, suitability, unauthorized trading, churning, misrepresentation, selling away, and violation of state and federal securities laws
Experience with a variety of investment products, including variable prepaid forward contracts, unit investment trusts, variable annuities, variable life policies, mutual funds, limited partnership interests, oil and gas well interests, as well as individual stocks and bonds
Represented broker-dealers, RIAs, and banks with respect to investigations by state regulatory agencies and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA, formerly NASD)
Defended individual financial advisor wrongful termination claims, and claims for unvested deferred compensation, and prosecuted arbitrations to collect on promissory notes and bonus repayment agreements

Education

University of South Carolina School of Law, JD, cum laude (1992)
- National Moot Court Team
- Member of the student editorial board of the ABA Real Property, Probate and Trust Journal
- Order of the Coif
- Order of Barristers
- Order of Wig and Robe
- Received the American Jurisprudence Award in Federal Practice
University of South Carolina, Honors College, BS, Accounting, magna cum laude (1989)
- Phi Beta Kappa
- Omicron Delta Kappa
- Mortar Board

Admissions

South Carolina
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina

Practice Areas

Industries

Articles & Speeches

Visit Idea Exchange

Recognitions

The bar rules of some states require that the standards for an attorney's inclusion in certain public accolades or recognitions be provided. When such accolades or recognitions are listed, a hyperlink is provided that leads to a description of the respective selection methodology.

The Best Lawyers in America® -- Commercial Litigation (2007 - 2018)
AV peer review rated by Martindale Hubbell

Professional Activities

Program Chair for the annual CLE conference of the DRI Life Health Disability & ERISA Committee to be held in Boston in April 2018
Former chair of the American Law Firm Association Insurance Law Practice Group (2011-2013)
Frequent speaker at national conferences sponsored by DRI, ACI, ECC, and ICA on disability and life insurance litigation
Member, Association of Life Insurance Counsel (2011-present)
Program Chair, 2018 DRI Life Health Disability and ERISA Conference, Boston
Co-chair, Membership and Marketing Committee of the ABA Section of Litigation (2017-present)
Member of the ABA Council for Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Education Pipeline (2015-2017)
Member of the Council of the ABA Section of Litigation (2014-2017)
Fellow, American Bar Foundation (2014-present)
Managing Director for the ABA Section of Litigation (2012-2013)
Chair, Insurance Law Practice Group of the American Law Firm Association (2011-2013)
Chair, Insurance Law Roundtable for the 2007 ALFA Insurance Law Practice Group Conference in New York
DRI's Life, Health, and Disability Committee (Program Chair for April 2018 CLE Annual Conference; Chair, Webcast Subcommittee, 2013-2015); Vice-Chair, membership subcommittee, (2015-present)
Served as a vice chair of the ABA Section of Litigation Committee on Corporate Counsel (2009-2011)
Served as co-editor of In-House Litigator, the quarterly journal for the Committee on Corporate Counsel (2005-2007)
Co-chair of the 2009 ABA Section of Litigation Annual Conference in Atlanta, Georgia
Served as a co-chair of the Content Management Committee of the ABA Section of Litigation (2010-2011)
Served in the House of Delegates of the S.C. Bar (1999-2001)