Justin Borawski

Justin Borawski focuses his practice on defending mass toxic tort claims, including asbestos exposures, as well as employment practices liability claims. His clients include a diverse range of businesses, from Fortune 500 companies, national restaurant chains and industrial equipment manufacturers, to local family-owned construction companies.

Throughout the entirety of a case, Justin closely partners with each client to fully understand their needs and provide them with clear, practical options for moving forward. With years of jury trial experience under his belt, he has developed a strong comfort level in the courtroom. This not only allows him to present evidence to the court and jury, but also to understand the complex process of building a case with the final closing arguments in mind.

With nearly two decades of litigation and trial experience, Justin personally handles every aspect of each case, from targeted investigations and fact and expert discovery, to preparation of complex dispositive motion briefs and oral arguments, as well as settlement negotiations and trial preparation. He has deposed, counseled, prepared, presented, and defended thousands of corporate, medical, and expert witnesses over the course of his career.

Beyond his mass toxic tort experience, Justin has defended and pursued liability claims on behalf of local Chicago-area residents and businesses, including auto accidents, premises claims of slip and fall and hazardous activity allegations, employment practice liability claims involving harassment and civil rights violations, and products liability actions.

While Justin is always available to meet his client’s needs any time of the day or night, when not in the office he enjoys local live music, golf, and swimming with his daughter. 

Representative Experience:

• Earned summary judgment in favor of a national boiler manufacturer in McLean County, Illinois following extensive briefing and oral argument, following discovery investigations on our client’s behalf revealed documents refuting allegations of asbestos exposure to the client’s product.
• Leveraged resolution on behalf of a Chicago-area union contractor construction company in asbestos exposure claims, resolving for less than half of the settlement values reached among other contractors sued, after we filed a Motion to Compel to force Plaintiff to answer targeted discovery we issued on behalf of our client. Plaintiff’s disclosures on the eve of trial revealed the existence of dozens of other exposures Plaintiff had previously failed to disclose. Plaintiff then drastically reduced their settlement demand to resolve the case and avoid further discovery on the newly disclosed documents.
• Defended local Chicago-area franchise and well-known national fast-food restaurant franchisor in multiple Employment Practices Liability claims, involving allegations of negligent hiring, retention, training, and supervision, as well as claims under the Illinois Gender Violence Act. We leveraged settlement for a fraction of the client’s projected cost of defense budget on the eve of hearing on our client’s motion to dismiss multiple claims from the Plaintiff’s Complaint following our investigation through discovery that revealed evidence which contradicted Plaintiff’s claims and eliminated the legal basis for Plaintiff’s cause of action.
• Defended national pizza restaurant chain regarding a personal injury claim requiring multiple surgeries and past and future medical bills over $100K; resolved at mediation for less than half of the approved settlement authority after plaintiff’s responses to targeted written and oral discovery contradicted medical records.
• Secured a dismissal without payment in a in a products liability case in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, where a personal protective clothing manufacturer was sued for failure of the protective clothing to protect the plaintiff from conditions that far exceeded the intended use of the product. Plaintiff agreed to a dismissal of the case after targeted written and oral discovery of the plaintiff and plaintiff’s experts, contradicted later test results conducted to re-create the conditions claimed by plaintiff and his experts.
• Defended major Chicago-area hospital against claim of failure to diagnose appendicitis in a teenager, leading to complicated surgery and recovery with over $1MM in claimed medical damages, and resolved for 40% below mediator recommendation.
• Earned summary judgment in favor of a Chicago-area health club and rehab center in climbing wall case, in which the novice indoor climber misused climbing equipment and sustained a substantial fall resulting in paralysis, who alleged negligent and reckless hiring of instructors and negligent supervision & instruction by the instructors.