Overview
Sean Powell represents clients nationwide in complex product liability and commercial litigation. His practice spans a variety of industries, including pharmaceuticals and medical devices, air filtration, materials science, oil and gas, food and agribusiness, banking, and telecommunications.
Sean has served as national trial counsel and appellate counsel in multidistrict litigation, class actions, single-plaintiff claims and alternative dispute resolutions. His experience ranges from pre-suit investigations to all aspects of fact and expert discovery, motions for injunctive relief, dispositive motions, trials, and appeals.
Sean is also a member of Faegre Drinker’s Health and Life Sciences team, Artificial Intelligence & Algorithmic Decision-Making (AI-X) team, and Sports and Gaming team, where he advises clients on issues related to the use of artificial intelligence, online sports betting and autonomous vehicles (AVs).
Product Liability
Sean represents national and international manufacturers of a variety of products in state and federal courts across the United States. He has substantial experience defending drug and device manufacturers in mass torts, where he has coordinated defense strategies and e-discovery across hundreds of consolidated cases, and prepared and defended dozens of fact and expert witnesses. Sean also defends manufacturers of filtration products, industrial machinery, chemical and polymer products, automotive components, consumer products, agricultural products, and food products.
Commercial Litigation
Sean also represents clients in complex commercial litigation and labor and employment disputes. He has handled contractual disputes involving real estate agreements, product supply agreements and banking agreements. Sean also has experience litigating cases involving discrimination, wrongful termination, defamation, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, trespass, nuisance, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).
Past Experience
Prior to joining Faegre Drinker, Sean worked as a judicial extern for the Hon. Jeffrey T. Gilbert in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Sean also gained legal experience clerking for Hayes Lorenzen Lawyers, PLC, in Iowa City, Iowa, during law school, where he represented clients in both civil and criminal litigation.
Related Industries
Credentials
Bar Admissions
Illinois
Court Admissions
U.S. Court of Federal Claims
U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin
Education
University of Iowa College of Law
J.D. cum laude (2016)
University of Iowa
B.A. in Political Science (2010)
Insights & Events
Latest
Insights
News
Other Perspectives
- Managing Clients' Expectations
Co-author, Illinois Trial Lawyers Association: Ethics and Professionalism Seminar, 2016
Leadership & Community
Professional Associations
- Illinois State Bar Association
- Chicago Bar Association
Honors
- Faegre Drinker — Pro Bono Honor Roll, 2020-21