Irwin is the Managing Partner of CohenMalad, LLP and has practiced with the firm since 1978. While his practice is concentrated in the areas of class actions, mass torts and commercial litigation, Irwin was one of the lead counsel in the Indianapolis Ramada Inn/United States Air Force crash litigation and the Greenwood air crash disaster, among other prominent cases. He has been counsel in a wide array of class actions including securities fraud, insurance and consumer protection throughout the United States, and has actively litigated in major drug and medical device cases.
Irwin was lead counsel in two class action cases against the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles for overcharging millions of Indiana citizens. The first case involved illegal overcharges for certain driver’s licenses which settled for $30 million. The subsequent case against the BMV involved overcharges not covered by the initial case. That case was tried and Irwin was lead trial counsel. After trial, the BMV settled the case for $59 million. Irwin was also class counsel in a case, settled for $15 million, against the Indiana Department of Children’s Services for failing to pay legally required subsidies to parents who adopted children from foster care.
Irwin was also Co-Lead Counsel in two major antitrust cases against the concrete industry. In central Indiana, the litigation resulted in a certified class and $59 million in settlements. In Iowa, the litigation successfully settled for $18 million. He was also selected by the Indiana Department of Insurance to represent it in claims against those responsible for the demise of the Indiana Construction Industry Trust. Through settlements and trial, the litigation collected over $24 million, exceeding the $18 million of actual claims. The case included a $17.99 million jury verdict, affirmed on appeal, in a legal malpractice action against the Trust’s lawyers and a $16.5 million settlement of the bad faith claim against the lawyers’ insurance carrier.
In 1996, Irwin was counsel in the first class action case against Swiss Banks on behalf of Holocaust survivors. He and other lawyers from CohenMalad, LLP took a hands-on role in both the factual investigation of archived materials stored in the U.S. National Archives and the legal work before the Court. In 1997, the Swiss Bank litigation was consolidated before a U.S. District Court judge, who appointed an executive committee composed of 10 lawyers from around the nation to manage the litigation. Irwin was one of the ten chosen. On this committee, he continued to play a significant role in the litigation, researching many of the unusual legal issues presented by this unique litigation and preparing briefs submitted to the Court. Irwin also played a significant role in the lengthy negotiations that culminated in the $1.25 billion settlement presented to the Court. Through his expertise in class action litigation, and the settlement of such complex cases, he also has been able to provide valuable insights into the unprecedented task of notifying Holocaust survivors around the world of this historic settlement.
Irwin also participated in numerous other Holocaust-related cases against German banks and corporations that stole the assets and labor of Holocaust victims. Cases against German banks successfully sought to recover the assets of Holocaust victims confiscated by the Nazis; cases against leading German industrial enterprises – many of which are household names today – successfully sought to recover the value of the slave labor those companies extracted from the bodies of concentration camp inmates.
In addition to these cases, Irwin also prosecuted a class action lawsuit filed against Bayer AG brought by an Indiana resident who was subjected to medical experiments at the hands of the infamous Josef Mengele involving chemicals supplied by Bayer and other German pharmaceutical companies.
Irwin has been named one of the Top 50 Super Lawyers in Indiana for 21 consecutive years, and one of the Top 10 Super Lawyers in Indiana in 12 of the past 17 years.
