Eddie Jae K. Kim is a partner atLynch Carpenterand manages its Los Angeles office. Eddie grew up in Southern California and received an undergraduate degree in English Literature from the University of California, at Berkeley, and a law degree from Cornell Law School. He has devoted his entire career to protecting the rights of individuals and small businesses.

During law school, Eddie clerked for the Orange County Public Defender and the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem, where he advocated for the civil and criminal rights of indigent defendants. Upon graduation from law school, he worked and became a partner at the Southern California law firm McCune Wright Arevalo, LLP, where he played a substantial role in building a nationally-recognized consumer class action practice.

His work includes a number of significant and high profile cases, includingGutierrez v. Wells Fargo, which resulted in the $203 million trial verdict on behalf of one million California bank customers based on the unlawful assessment of overdraft fees.Gutierrezsubsequently spawned a national multi-district litigation against many of the largest banks in the country that resulted in several billion dollars’ worth of settlements. Eddie then managed a series of class actions against banks and credit unions throughout the country based on another unlawful overdraft fee practice, resulting in over $28 million worth of settlements.

He also worked on class actions relating to product liability, including developing the first-filed caseEspinosa v. Hyundai,which challenged the auto manufacturer’s advertisement of inflated fuel efficiency numbers and became the basis for the multidistrict litigationIn re Hyundai and Kia Fuel Economy Litigationand the resultant $200 million settlement. He served as co-trial counsel in a class action against the boat manufacturer Correct Craft which resulted in a verdict for the class that included reimbursement of the purchase price and an injunction requiring the recall of dangerous boat showers that put people at risk of fatal carbon monoxide poisoning.

In addition to representing individual consumers, Eddie has also represented small businesses through collective action, including a series of class actions on behalf of small trucking companies in California against nine of the largest intermodal shipping companies in the world, including MOL, MSC, Evergreen, Hyundai, and Wan Hai, based on the unlawful assessment of per diem fees for the lease of cargo containers. The lawsuits resulted in restitution and cessation of the unlawful practice.

Eddie has handled successful appeals in both state court and multiple federal circuit courts that have resulted in significant rulings, including rulings banning heads-I-win-tails-you-lose indemnification provisions from home purchase contracts and finding unconscionable the intermodal shipping industry’s industry-wide arbitration provision.

Recent achievements include:

• $13 million nationwide settlement regarding unwarranted double reprocessing fees for returned bank transactions. Figueroa v. CapitalOne, N.A., No. 18CV692 JM(BGS) (S.D. Cal.);
• $10 million nationwide settlement in a class action against FCTI, Inc. for the erroneous transmission of a second balance inquiry request through its ATM’s located at 7-Eleven convenience stores, resulting in unwarranted interchange fee revenue. Weiss, et alv. FCTI, Inc., No. 37-2024-00016908-CU-BT-NC (Cal. Super. Ct.);
• $5.5 million nationwide settlement regarding the wrongful assessment of international transaction fees for debit card purchases that were entered into while the customer was located in the US. Morrow, et alv. Navy Federal Credit Union, No. 1:21-cv-722 (E.D. Va.);
• $5 million settlement for partial reimbursement of tuition and fees based on the transition to remote education and closure of the campus during the Covid pandemic. Levin, et alv. Bd. of Regents of the Univ. of Colorado, No. 2020CV31409 (Colo. Dist. Ct.);
• $4 million settlement for partial reimbursement of tuition and fees based on the transition to remote education and closure of the campus during the Covid pandemic. Barry v. Univ. of Washinton, No. 20-2-13924-6 (Wash. Super. Ct.);
• $3 million settlement for partial reimbursement of tuition and fees based on the transition to remote education and closure of the campus during the Covid pandemic. Faber, et alv. Cornell Univ., No. 3-20-cv-467 (N.D. N.Y. Dec. 13, 2023) (granting final approval of $3 million settlement);
• $2.5 million settlement regarding overdraft fees that resulted from the automated transfer of funds in checking accounts from “rounding up” debit card transactions to investment accounts. Bingham v. Acorns Grow, Inc., et al, No. 30-2019-01050842-CU-NP-CXC (Cal. Super. Ct.); and
• Handling oral argument in the successful Ninth Circuit appeal of orders granting summary judgment and denying class certification in a class action involving the unlawful assessment of a second balance inquiry transaction that was not instructed by the customer at out-of-network ATMs. Schertzer v. Bank of America, No. 23-55104 (9th Cir.).

He served as the co-chair of the Pro Bono Committee of the Korean American Bar Association of Southern California in 2013, which assists low-income, Korean-speaking clients at a Legal Aid Foundation clinic in Los Angeles.

When he is not practicing law, Eddie enjoys hiking in the mountains and composing music.

• B.A. University of California, at Berkeley
• J.D.  Cornell Law School