Grace
Chanin

Grace Chanin is a Senior Associate at Clarkson, where she is a member of the firm’s Employment and Whistleblower practice groups. For over seven years, Grace has fought on behalf of people harmed by corporate misconduct, earning a reputation for honest communication, meticulous legal analysis, and an unrelenting commitment to doing what’s right for her clients. That combination of trust and tenacity has helped her recover more than $60 million on behalf of individuals standing up to some of the nation’s largest corporations, banks, and insurance companies.

Prior to joining Clarkson, Grace spent seven years at a well-known plaintiffs’ firm in Minneapolis, where she built her practice representing people who take on powerful institutions. She began in the firm’s ERISA class action group, litigating complex federal class actions nationwide against major banks, insurance companies, and investment firms accused of mismanaging employees’ retirement assets, before transitioning to the firm’s Qui Tam group, representing whistleblowers exposing fraud against the government.

Grace is known for her precise, persuasive legal writing. She clerked for Judges Francis Connolly, Michelle Larkin, and Louise Bjorkman at the Minnesota Court of Appeals, where she developed expertise in untangling complex factual records and applying precedent with precision. She later spent two years teaching Legal Research and Writing as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Minnesota Law School, mentoring the next generation of lawyers in the same skills that continue to define her own practice.

Grace is deeply passionate about improving mental health in the legal profession and has served in numerous leadership roles to advance that mission. She currently serves as Chair-Elect of the Board of Directors for Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers and has led national wellbeing initiatives through the American Association for Justice’s New Lawyers Division. She also founded and co-chaired her prior firm's Wellness Committee and is a frequent speaker and author on lawyer wellbeing, presenting at conferences across the country on topics ranging from trauma recovery to mental health advocacy in the legal field.

When she’s not litigating, Grace is probably chasing an endorphin high—whether that’s from a spin class, a hot yoga session, or a brutal weightlifting-meets-stair master class. A Minnesota native who’s been snowboarding since age 12, Grace’s never met a snowstorm she didn’t like, and she has even taken her love of powder as far as Japan in search of the perfect run. She’s also a committed foodie, always tracking down the next great restaurant or trying her hand at a new recipe at home. Grace lives in Hopkins, Minnesota, with her partner, Thaddeus, and Tyson, their spirited 15-year-old chihuahua who, despite his age, still runs the household.