User:Ian Briggs/Michael Zimmerman

Michael Zimmerman is the former Chief Justice of the Utah Supreme Court and is currently a practicing attorney in Salt Lake City.

Early life and education
Michael Zimmerman was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1943. From there he moved to Arizona for high school and began his college studies. Later he moved to Utah and graduated cum laude from the University of Utah in political science in 1966. He attended the S.J. Quinney College of law and graduated in 1969, starting his career in law. He graduated first in his class and was inducted into the Order of the Coif, a legal honorary society.

Legal Career
After graduating from the University of Utah he moved to Washington, D.C. for a judicial clerkship for Chief Justice Warren E. Burger. In 1971 he was admitted to the Californian bar and joined the Los Angeles law firm of O’Melveny & Myers. He worked at O'Melveny until 1976 when he returned to Utah to teach law at the University of Utah College of Law from 1976-1978. Zimmerman also served as a special counsel to Utah Governor Scott Milne Matheson part time. In 2000, after serving 16 years on the Utah Supreme Court, Zimmerman became a partner in the law firm Snell & Wilmer L.L.P. He was a partner there until 2011 when he founded the Salt Lake City Law firm of Zimmerman Jones Booher L.L.C., where he is the managing partner.

Judicial career
Justice Zimmerman was appointed to the Utah Supreme Court in 1984 and served on the Court until he retired in 2000. From 1994 to 1998 he served as Chief Justice of the court. In 1998 he was certified as qualified to stand for retention election and received 82% yes vote for retention.

Selected Opinions
In re:Adoption of Jeremiah Halloway: case number 20519 This lawsuit concerned the legality of the adoption of Jeremiah Halloway, a young Navajo boy who was adopted in May 1980. The dispute centered around whether the Utah Courts or the Navajo Nation had legal jurisdiction. Even though the parents willingly gave up their child for adoption the Navajo Nation claimed that they had jurisdiction over the boy. Two years after the adoption the Navajo Nation protested. In 1982, a Utah trial court denied the claim of jurisdiction stating "this court finds that apparent 'good cause' exists for this court to take jurisdiction and that the requirements of the Indian Child Welfare Act have ... been satisfied." On appeal the Utah Supreme Court determined that, under the Indian Child Welfare Act, the Navajo court did, in fact, have jurisdiction over Jeremiah. Justice Zimmerman wrote the opinion of the Court and wrote that the justices were, "acutely aware that this decision, if it ultimately results in the removal of Jeremiah from his current home, will disrupt the strong emotional bonds which have developed between Jeremiah and his adoptive parents over the past six years and can only result in a great deal of pain and anguish.''

State v Menzies, 889P.2d393 (Utah 1994) In State v. Menzies the defendant appealed his 1988 jury conviction for the kidnapping and strangulation of a convenience store clerk and the trial court's subsequent imposition of the death penalty. Menzies raised numerous claims of error on appeal, including (1) failure to remove five jurors for cause (2) failure to grant a mistrial following the admissibility of claimed "surprise" testimony (3) failure to exclude testimony of a jailhouse informant (4) consideration of heinousness aggravating circumstances in the penalty phase and (5) the use of an incorrect standard in sentencing Menzies to death. The Court, in a length opinion authored by Justice Zimmerman, found no merit in the claims and affirmed the conviction and the sentence. Menzies has been on death row for 25 years and is awaiting execution.

Beck v. Farmers, 701 P.2d 795 In Beck v. Farmers Insurance Exchange, plaintiff Wayne Beck brought suit against his automobile insurance carrier for a bad-faith refusal to settle a claim for uninsured motorist benefits. Beck was the victim of a hit-and-run accident when an automobile crashed into his car and consequently injured his knee. The owner of the hit-and-run vehicle maintained that her car had been stolen and refuted responsibility for the accident. Her insurer also denied liability, The Court, in an opinion authored by Justice Zimmerman, concluded that an insured, standing in a first-party relationship with the insurer, can bring a cause of action against its insurer for both first and third-part claims when the insurer breaches the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing existing in every contractual relationship. The Court also held that such a claim, because it is part of the insurance contract, is based in contract and not tort. However, Beck opened the door for consequential damages that resulted from the insurer's breach of the duty of good faith and permitted these damages to exceed the policy limits.

Society of Separationists v Whitehead, 870 P.2d 916 In the case of Society of Separationists v. Whitehead the Utah Supreme Court reviewed whether Salt Lake City's practice of opening its city counci meetings with prayer was consistent with the Utah Constitution. The court, in an opinion authored by Justice Zimmerman, determined that prayer at council meetings was a religious exercise but still found the practice of having prayer as part of an opening ceremony for a city council meeting as constitutional. In doing so, the court concluded that Article I, Section 4 of the Utah Constitution does not impose an absolute ban on government expenditure of public funds or use of public property in support of religion or religious institutions. Instead, a "neutrality" requirement was read into the "no public money or property" language of Article I, Section 4, and the court concluded the following:
 * The middle ground we adopt rests on the concept of governmental neutrality that underlies our constitution's religion and conscience clauses, which in this instance, means neutrality in the use of public money or property. When the state is neutral, any benefit flowing to religious worship, exercise, or instruction can fairly be characterized as indirect because the benefit flows to all those who are beneficiaries of the use of government money or property, which may include, but is not limited to, those engaged in religious worship, exercise, or instruction.

The Court described the analytical elements of neutrality that must be present for a benefit to be found constitutionally indirect and therefore permissible as follows:
 * Use of public money or property that benefits religious worship, exercise, or instruction or any ecclesiastical establishment qualifies as an indirect benefit and survives constitutional scrutiny only if (1) The money or property is provided on a nondiscriminatory basis and (2) The public money or property is equally accessible to all.

Personal Life
Zimmerman is a Buddhist Monk well known for his Zen practice. He began meditating in 1993 while his first wife, Lynne Mariani Zimmerman, was suffering a terminal illness. In 1994, the same year he became Chief Justice of the Utah Supreme Court, his wife died. During this point in his life he turned to meditation and, at the suggestion of Diane Hamilton, he began sitting zazen at Kanzeon Zen Center. Over time they grew closer, and in 1998 they were married. Together they opened Boulder Mountain Zendo and teach Zen there.

Honors and Awards
Michael Zimmerman has received many awards, including :
 * Humanitarian Award, National Conference for Community and Justice, Utah Chapter (2005)
 * Listed in The Best Lawyers in America, 2004-2006
 * Public Service Award, The Department of Corrections for the State of Utah (2002)
 * Pete Suazo Public Service Award, Utah Minority Bar Association (2002)
 * Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree, University of Utah (2001)
 * Friends of the Humanities Award, Utah Humanities Council (2000)
 * Special Recognition Award, University of Utah College of Law Alumni Association (2000)
 * Distinguished Service Award, Utah State Bar (1998)
 * The Peter W. Billings, Sr. American Arbitration Association Outstanding Dispute Resolution Service Award (1997)
 * Inaugural recipient, "Excellence in Ethics" Award, Utah Valley State College, Center for the Study of Ethics (1994)
 * Utah State Bar Appellate Court Judge of the Year (1988).