Benesch Continues New York Expansion, Adding Commercial Litigator Rena Andoh

Benesch, one of the fastest-growing firms on the AmLaw 200 list, welcomes partner Rena Andoh to its New York office. Rena is an accomplished trial lawyer with extensive experience as lead counsel, managing complex commercial, employment, IP and trade secret theft litigation matters in court and via arbitration, at both the trial and appellate levels.

Rena represents clients in state and federal jurisdictions, routinely handling critical and time-sensitive issues such as restraining orders, attachments and injunctions. In addition to traditional courtroom settings, Rena has litigated matters before international and domestic arbitration forums, including the AAA (and the ICDR), JAMS, FINRA, the SMA and the ICC. Rena also handles internal investigation and government investigation matters that arise out of, or in relation to, civil disputes. 

Benesch has been rapidly growing its presence in the New York market since opening an office in Midtown in June 2023, adding multiple high-profile lateral hires from global firms, including private equity dealmaker Doug DiMedio from Kirkland & Ellis and cybersecurity pro Michael Vatis from Steptoe.

“We have growing relationships with private equity, real estate and litigation clients that compel us to continue recruiting and investing in New York,” said Benesch Managing Partner Gregg Eisenberg. “Adding Rena to our team deepens our bench of top litigators representing clients in their most complex and critical matters, and further advances our goal of expanding client and community relationships in the city and nationwide.”

Benesch’s growth in New York reflects the firm’s national expansion in key markets, including a whopping 190% increase over the past five years in Chicago alone. Focused on attracting and retaining proven attorneys with its collaborative, full-service, national platform and substantive opportunities to help mentor the next generation of lawyers, in 2023, Benesch retained approximately 90% of its attorneys firmwide. 

Before making the move to Benesch, Rena was a partner at Sheppard Mullin, where she handled a broad range of disputes for businesses across a number of disparate industries, including healthcare, financial services, real estate, technology, military contracting, entertainment, advertising, cybersecurity and energy. She was also the Chair of Diversity & Inclusion for the firm and consulted with clients on DEI policies and best practices. Prior to entering the legal profession, Rena was a professional violist.

“I’m thrilled to be joining a firm with such a creative, entrepreneurial culture,” said Rena. “With an exceptional team and a proven commitment to growing in smart and sustainable ways, Benesch is an ideal place for me to continue building my practice and advising clients through their most challenging and complex legal issues.”

Since launching a national growth strategy in 2015, Benesch has consistently ranked as one of the nation’s fastest-growing law firms. In 2023, the firm added 83 lateral hires nationwide.