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GC Elite - GC & Senior Lawyer Directory
Kevin Burwell

Kevin Burwell

General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer
Kloeckner Metals Corporation
USA

I build legal, governance, and compliance functions from the ground up, and I’ve done it inside some of the most operationally complex, multi-jurisdictional environments in industrial manufacturing.

As General Counsel of Kloeckner Metals Corporation, the $5B North American subsidiary of a publicly listed German industrial group, I was recruited to establish the company’s first legal, compliance, and internal controls function from scratch across U.S. and Mexico operations, with a German parent reporting line. Today I’m leading legal integration through KMC’s acquisition by Worthington Steel, serving as the cross-jurisdictional bridge between U.S., Mexico, and German legal and governance teams, including navigating the corporate law mechanics of a Domination and Profit Loss Transfer Agreement, a structure few GCs ever encounter.

Before law, I spent years in operational and economic development roles such as international logistics, foreign trade zone policy, and government affairs, which shapes how I practice law today: commercially grounded, execution-focused, and comfortable owning complexity that others can’t speak to.

My background spans M&A (buy- and sell-side), international trade and customs (EAR/ITAR/OFAC/FTZ), employment law, EHS, data privacy and cybersecurity, and executive advisory to boards and C-suites. I’m a selected member of the Wall Street Journal Chief Compliance Officer Council.

I’m drawn to organisations where legal complexity is a feature, not a bug – multinational structures, PE-backed industrials, and companies navigating the kind of ambiguity that rewards someone who’s built the function before, not just managed it.

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