Graduate of the Faculty of Law and Administration at the University of Szczecin (1990–1995). Following his graduation, in 1995–1997 he completed legal training in a court, and in 1997–2006 he held the office of Judge. In the years 1997–1999, he issued rulings on behalf of the Civil Division of the District Court in Szczecin in cases resolved by way of non-judicial proceedings. In 1999–2002 he held office in the bankruptcy and composition section of the Commercial Division of the District Court in Szczecin. At that time he conducted bankruptcy proceedings and acted as insolvency practitioner in bankruptcy proceedings involving major companies in the region. In 2003–2006 he was the head of the Bankruptcy and Reorganisation Division of the District Court for the Capital City of Warsaw in Warsaw and held the office of an insolvency practitioner, issuing rulings in bankruptcy cases handled in that division.In 2005, as the Deputy President of the District Court for the Capital City of Warsaw in Warsaw and the Plenipotentiary of the Minister of Justice for the abolition of the District Court for the Capital City of Warsaw and the establishment of District Courts for the Capital City of Warsaw, for Warsaw–Wola and Warsaw–Żoliborz, he supervised the division of the largest district court in Poland. In the years 2005–2006 he also held office in the 23rd Commercial Appeal Division of the Regional Court in Warsaw, where he was responsible for commercial, bankruptcy and registration cases. From 2007 to 2010 he worked for the Wardyński & Partners Law Firm, first as senior adviser, and then as a partner. He took part in the consultations preceding the entry into force of the Bankruptcy and Reorganisation Law of 2003. In 2006 he contributed to the work of the Civil Law Codification Commission under the Minister of Justice that prepared a thorough amendment to the Bankruptcy and Reorganisation Law.
He is interested in constitutional law and the influence of the Constitution on the scope of subjective rights exercised before courts. He submitted to the Constitutional Tribunal a legal inquiry concerning the constitutionality of Article 172 of the Bankruptcy Law of 1934, the answer to which formed the basis for the recasting of the relevant regulation under the new Bankruptcy and Reorganisation Law. In 2007, due to his successful efforts as plaintiff’s attorney, the Constitutional Tribunal deemed the provisions of the Act on the National Council of the Judiciary preventing candidates for judges from appealing against the decision not to submit their nominations to the President of the Republic of Poland to be unconstitutional.
Piotr Zimmerman also engages in teaching activities. He teaches bankruptcy and reorganisation law to post-graduate students at the University of Warsaw. He organised training courses for administrators, administrative receivers and receivers, court trainees, Warsaw and Szczecin Bar Associations, District Chamber of Legal Advisers in Warsaw, Supreme Audit Office, BCC, BGŻ and PKO BP banks, and many more. He is a frequent speaker at conferences dedicated to bankruptcy and reorganisation law and company law (e.g. Polish Congress Of Insolvency & Restructuring Law INSO 2012 held on 9 November 2012 by the Allerhand Institute). He is the author of four editions of “Komentarz do prawa upadłościowego i naprawczego” [Commentary to Bankruptcy and Reorganisation Law] and a co-author of “Prawo restrukturyzacyjne i upadłościowe. System Prawa Handlowego. Tom 6.” [Restructuring and Bankruptcy Law. Commercial Law System. Vol. 6] Articles by Piotr Zimmerman are published in Polish and international specialist press; he is an author of a series of articles for Prawo w Firmie and Firma i Prawo weekly magazines, and serves as an expert for newspaper such as Rzeczpospolita and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna. He is a Member of the District Chamber of Legal Advisers in Warsaw.
He is fluent in English and has basic knowledge of German.