R. Nicholas Gimbel | Lawyer, 58

R. Nicholas Gimbel, 58, a lawyer from Bryn Mawr, died of pneumonia last Thursday at Bryn Mawr Hospital. He had fought a degenerative neurological disease for three years.

Since 2002, Mr. Gimbel had been a partner with McCarter & English in Philadelphia, where he specialized in insurance law. Previously he had been with firms in Philadelphia, Boston, and New York City, and was an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York from 1980 to 1984. He also taught at the Rutgers University School of Law from 2003 to 2005.

Mr. Gimbel was a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and a member of the American Law Institute. He was a former editor for Litigation Magazine and the Insurance Coverage Law Bulletin.

He served on the boards of the Agnes Irwin School and the Philadelphia Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. He was former chairman of the Independence Hall Association.

A native of Detroit, Mr. Gimbel graduated from the Groton School in Groton, Mass., and earned a bachelor's degree from Yale University. He graduated from the University of Chicago Law School, where he was a member of the Law Review, and then clerked for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Wilmington.

He performed with the Yale Russian Chorus and later sang with the Savoy Company in Philadelphia.

Mr. Gimbel is survived by his wife of 29 years, Martha Morse; daughters Martha and Anne; and two sisters.

A memorial service will be held at 4 p.m. Sunday at Merion Cricket Club, 325 Montgomery Ave., Haverford.