Overview

Corwin is an experienced advisor, litigator, and transactional attorney who focuses on helping clients develop, pursue, and implement practical, business-oriented solutions to their legal needs.

Corwin is a partner in the Employment Group at BFKN. He also serves as Assistant General Counsel, Employment of the firm. Corwin maintains a wide-ranging employment and environmental practice, which includes providing day-to-day advice and counsel, conducting internal investigations, assisting in mergers and acquisitions, and representing employers in dispute before administrative agencies, arbitration, mediation, and in state and federal court.

Corwin frequently represents employers facing all manner of employment-related claims, including for harassment and discrimination, retaliation, wage-and-hour violations, failure-to-accommodate, and failure to comply with state and federal leave laws.

In addition, Corwin has extensive experience representing employers in all manner of discrimination, harassment, and whistleblower retaliation claims before federal and state courts and administrative agencies. He has also represented employers filing suit against former employees for breach of non-compete and non-solicitation restrictive covenants and for misappropriation of trade secrets, and frequently represents employers in pre-suit disputes and negotiations with former employees to ensure their compliance with their post-employment obligations.

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Corwin also works with employers to conduct internal investigations into all manner of employment issues, and has a robust advice and counsel practice focused on providing business-oriented solutions to employer’s legal challenges. He advises companies on a full range of employment-related matters, including employee privacy and data privacy issues, wage payment and deduction matters, paid and unpaid leaves, WARN Act compliance, and harassment and discrimination. Corwin also regularly works with clients to develop and implement policies and procedures to ensure compliance with a variety of evolving federal, state, and local employment laws.

Corwin also maintains a robust environmental practice focused on conducting due diligence to identify potential environmental liabilities in all manner of mergers, acquisitions, and real estate transactions. He works closely with clients to develop practical business strategies for responding to those potential issues, and to negotiate and draft transactional documents to appropriately allocate legal risks. Corwin has brought his experience in these matters to bear on behalf of a wide range of clients, including some of the largest and most sophisticated industrial manufacturers and chemical and pharmaceutical companies in the world, national and regional real estate investment trusts, and local banks and small businesses.

In addition to his transactional work, Corwin addresses environmental compliance issues for clients, including working with regulators to resolve disputes in a way that makes sense for the client’s business operations. Corwin also works with clients and other stakeholders to shepherd contaminated properties through state cleanup programs with the goal of facilitating redevelopment while minimizing liability.

Corwin also has considerable experience representing businesses in environmental litigation and dispute resolution, including in Superfund matters and mass tort claims.  

Credentials

Admissions

  • State of Illinois
  • State of California
  • U.S. District Court - Northern District of Illinois

Education

  • University of Michigan School of Law, J.D., summa cum laude, Order of the Coif, 2014
  • Bowling Green State University, M.A., Philosophy, 2008
  • New School University, M.A., Philosophy, 2006
  • Boston College, B.A., Philosophy, magna cum laude, 2004

Experience

Employment Litigation

  • Helped secure a jury and bench verdict in favor of the City of Chicago and two former high-ranking Chicago Police Department officers in a suit alleging race and political affiliation discrimination. Doyle v. City of Chicago et al., No. 12-C-6377 (N.D. Ill.) 
  • Helped secure summary judgment in favor of an employer in a suit alleging misclassification of employees and associated failure to pay overtime, and the Fifth Circuit’s later affirmance. Rychorcewicz v. Welltec, Inc., No. H-16-2 (S.D. Tex.) 
  • Secured summary judgment in favor of an employer in a suit alleging that the plaintiff-employee was terminated due to her pregnancy. Smith v. By the Hand Club for Kids, No. 1:17-cv-3418 
  • Represented a national logistics business before the Illinois Human Rights Commission in a failure-to-hire case alleging violation of Illinois’ prohibition on the use of arrest records in employment decisions.
  • Represented a national real estate development firm in an arbitration demand filed by a former employee for wage-and-hour violations and associated claims arising out of the employee’s entitlement to promote and carried interest payments following her termination.
  • Represented a major utility company in multiple suits raising claims of harassment, discrimination, and retaliation both in federal court and before state administrative agencies, frequently securing summary judgment in favor of the employer.

Employment Counseling and Transactions

  • Advised a regional bank holding company on the consolidation of its subsidiaries into a single charter entity.
  • Advised a family-owned regional bank on the termination of the bank President and CEO, including conducting negotiations regarding the terms of the separation.
  • Advised a national real estate development firm on the conduct of a large Reduction in Force.
  • Advised a regional bank on the development and implementation of an early retirement incentive program.
  • Drafted employee handbooks and other policies on behalf of multiple organizations, and frequently assists employers in negotiating and drafting employment and separation agreements with high-level executives.
  • Serves as primary employment counsel to manufacturing, real estate, insurance, pharmaceutical, and financial institutions and businesses in all manner of mergers and acquisitions.

Environmental

  • Represented a major utility company against claims that it was responsible for contamination arising out of a historic Manufactured Gas Plant in the Chicagoland area, and in connection with multiple pre-dispute matters relating to its former MGP plants.
  • Represented a steel manufacturer identified as a Potentially Responsible Paty at one of the largest Superfund sites in U.S. history in connection with pre-litigation efforts by hundreds of PRPs to allocate and apportion liability amongst themselves for purposes of facilitating settlement discussions with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
  • Represented a major historic producer of PFAS against a wide variety of claims arising out of its historic production of the chemicals dating back to the 1950s, including claims by municipal utilities, landowners, and other private parties.
  • Served as primary environmental counsel to Nestle USA in connection with its sale of Nestle Waters North America.
  • Served as primary environmental counsel to Arcelor Mittal, North America in connection with the sale of multiple steel manufacturing facilities.
  • Serves as primary environmental counsel to Ventas in multiple significant transactions for the acquisition and/or development of various senior housing and medical research facilities.

Newsroom

Recognitions

  • One to Watch, Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch (2024-2025)
    • Litigation - Labor & Employment Law
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