Benesch Grows West; Opens Office in San Francisco

Based on its expanding client base, growing team of veteran litigators, and opportunities to serve more clients on the West Coast, Benesch Law, an AmLaw 200 law firm, today announced its expansion into San Francisco, CA.

“Opening an office in San Francisco is the next logical step for Benesch,” said Gregg Eisenberg, Managing Partner and Executive Committee Member at Benesch. “Many of our clients are based in California and the legal landscape is energetic and exciting. It goes without saying that California is home to some of the best companies in the country. We want to be a part of that.”

“Benesch has a fantastic product to sell,” said J. Erik Connolly, Partner, Vice Chair of the Litigation Practice Group and Executive Committee Member at Benesch, who recently joined the firm, “and our firm is continuing to disrupt the traditional law firm model.”

Leading the team on the ground in San Francisco is veteran commercial litigation attorney, Krista Enns. Joining Krista at Benesch’s new location are litigation associates Jennifer Miller and Whitney Carlson.  Each of them join Benesch after spending years with an AmLaw 50 firm because they recognize the benefits to their clients of providing top-quality legal services at significantly reduced rates. 

Krista Enns concentrates her practice on complex commercial matters. She has defended companies and individuals against allegations of securities fraud, insider trading and deceptive trade practices. She also has experience with antitrust, fiduciary duty and intellectual property matters. She has extensive class action experience, having defended consumer, investor and employee class actions in various state and federal courts. She also represents clients across a variety of industries, including technology and manufacturing, in civil antitrust matters ranging from exclusionary conduct to price fixing.

Krista received her J.D. from Duke University School of Law and her M.P.P. from the Sanford Institute of Public Policy at Duke University in 1999. She received her B.A. from Pomona College in 1994.

Jennifer Miller concentrates her practice on complex commercial litigation and represents clients from a variety of industries, including energy, food, health, media and technology at both the trial and appellate levels. Her experience includes handling several aspects of the litigation process, including factual investigation, motion practice and preparing fact and expert witnesses.

Jennifer received her J.D., summa cum laude, from the University of Illinois in 2011 and her B.A., magna cum laude, from the University of Missouri in 2008.

Whitney Carlson focuses her practice on commercial litigation, intellectual property disputes and white collar defense. Her commercial litigation practice is diverse – including breach of contract, product liability, trade secret and business torts. Whitney has experience handling all aspects of the litigation process, including factual investigation, motion practice, written and oral discovery, and pre-trial preparations.

Whitney received her J.D., from the University of Colorado, Boulder in 2015 and her B.A. in French and Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley in 2008.

“Our clients are increasingly focused on the quality of the individual lawyer who will be handling their case as opposed to the immediate name recognition of the overall law firm” Connolly explained. “I’ve had the good fortune to work with this team previously. They are outstanding attorneys and have been very successful in California.  We are thrilled to have them with us as Benesch begins its newest chapter.”     

The office, located at One Montgomery Tower, Suite 2700, San Francisco, California, has enough space to support an aggressive growth strategy in the San Francisco market as well as a number of current Benesch attorneys from other offices who will be splitting their time in San Francisco.