Howard J. Swibel

Partner
Howard J. Swibel is a partner at Arnstein & Lehr LLP, where he has practiced since 1983. He is the longest serving current member of the firm’s Executive Committee, having been first elected in 1983. During a legal career spanning more than 30 years, Mr. Swibel has developed substantial expertise in both the corporate transactional and litigation areas. He has represented a broad range of major corporations and other large private and public entities engaged in industries such as health care, real estate, financial services, hotel, transportation, retail, manufacturing, and communications. He often is involved in negotiating and documenting high-profile, sophisticated commercial transactions. He has also coordinated and supervised major complex litigation, both in the Chicago area and in various parts of the country.

Professional Activities and Achievements
Mr. Swibel is active in a wide range of professional and civic activities. He has served for many years as an Illinois Commissioner to the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws and as a trustee of the Uniform Law Foundation. In 2007 he completed his service as president of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, the first Illinoisan to achieve that distinction in thirty years. He has served as an arbitrator for the National Association of Securities Dealers hearing complex claims. He is a former member of the Governor’s Administrative Rules Commission, the Advisory Board of the Loyola University Law School Center for Health Care Law, and the U.S. State Department Advisory Committee on Private International Law. Mr. Swibel serves as chair of the Executive Committee of the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center. He is also the vice chair of the Anti-Defamation League Midwest Region’s board of directors. Mr. Swibel is a member of the Harvard-Radcliffe Schools Committee. He also serves as vice president of the Community Foundation for Jewish Education for Metropolitan Chicago and as trustee of the Uniform Law Foundation.

Recent Publications
Mr. Swibel has spoken on a broad range of topics related to the corporate and litigation areas. He addressed an American Bar Association seminar on the upcoming revisions to the Uniform Limited Partnership Act. He also spoke on Revised Article 8 of the Uniform Commercial Code, which deals with investment securities, before the Chicago Bar Association’s Commercial Finance Committee. He co-authored the article “Surfing Stark II: Prohibition Against Self-Referrals,” published in the Physician Executive. He also co-authored the chapter entitled “Equipment Leasing,” which appeared in the Secured Transactions textbook published by the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education.

Education
Harvard University (J.D. cum laude, 1975)
Harvard University (A.B. cum laude, 1972)

Bar Admissions
State of Illinois
U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois
U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit