Case Arts law LLC’s founder and Principal, Kevin Case, represents musicians and artists nationwide in labor and employment matters, including the drafting and negotiation of collecting bargaining agreements (CBAs) and individual employment contracts on behalf of symphony and opera musicians. He has negotiated CBAs on behalf of the musicians of The Cleveland Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Charlotte Symphony, New York City Ballet, Pacific Symphony, Florida Orchestra, Chicago Lyric Opera, and the Grant Park Symphony (among others). Since 2015, he has served as General Counsel to the International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians (ICSOM).
Also a seasoned litigator, Mr. Case has broad-based experience advising clients in cases involving labor arbitration, employment discrimination, employee discipline and discharge, and non-competition and other restrictive covenants. He has litigated cases through arbitration and trial in both federal and state court, argued before the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and the Illinois Appellate Court, and conducted mediations in the Cook County courts as a certified mediator for the Center for Conflict Resolution in Chicago. He is a proud member of the AFL-CIO Union Lawyers Alliance, as well as the American Bar Association Section of Labor and Employment Law.
Kevin Case also brings to Case Arts Law LLC an unusual combination of successful careers in both music and law. Before going to law school, Mr. Case was a sought-after concert violinist and symphonic musician. A graduate of the Eastman School of Music, he held positions as concertmaster of the Memphis Symphony, the Grant Park Symphony, and the Dallas Opera, and performed regularly with the Chicago Symphony and the Chicago Lyric Opera. He advocated for musicians’ rights during his playing career, serving as chairman of the Grant Park Symphony players’ committee and delegate to ICSOM.
Prior to forming Case Arts Law LLC (and its predecessor firm Moen & Case LLP), Mr. Case was an attorney in the Chicago office of one of the country’s top law firms, Jenner & Block LLP. There, Mr. Case handled a wide range of sophisticated and complex matters, including taking on some of the nation’s largest banks, securities brokers, and hedge funds in matters where hundreds of millions of dollars were at stake. Before joining Jenner & Block, Mr. Case served as a law clerk for the Honorable Rebecca R. Pallmeyer of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, assisting the Court in resolving cases involving employment discrimination, securities fraud, patent infringement, civil rights, and labor law.
Mr. Case graduated with high honors from the Chicago-Kent College of Law, where he earned the school’s Certificate in Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution, was inducted into the Order of the Coif, and served as Executive Articles Editor for the Chicago-Kent Law Review. He also holds a Certificate in Collective Bargaining Studies from Cornell University.
Mr. Case has written extensively about labor issues in symphony orchestras, in articles including “Sustainability”: No, That Word Does Not Mean What You Think It Means; “Right to Work”: Is It Really About Workers’ Rights?; and The Commoditization of Symphony Orchestra Musicians. Mr. Case also authored two articles published in the Chicago-Kent Law Review: Tanks in the Streets: SUVs, Design Defects, and Ultrahazardous Strict Liability; and “Lewd and Immoral”: Nude Dancing, Sexual Expression, and the First Amendment, which won the 2007 Burton Award for Legal Achievement.
Mr. Case still performs regularly in Chicago as assistant concertmaster of the top-flight chamber orchestra Music of the Baroque.