Benesch is pleased to share that the following 13 attorneys have been named “Stand-Out Lawyers” by Thomson Reuters and will be included in the organization’s database of client-nominated, stand-out attorneys:
- Alan E. Schabes
- Alison K. Evans
- Andrew J. Jarzyna
- Andrew S. Nicoll
- J. Erik Connolly
- Frank Carsonie
- Joseph A. Castrodale
- Jeffrey J. Wild
- Manish K. Mehta
- Margo Wolf O'Donnell
- Meegan Brooks
- Mircea A. Tipescu
- Nicholas J. Secco
Only a select group of lawyers nationwide receive this recognition, which, according to Thomson Reuters’ research, is based on ability to improve client satisfaction, increase client advocacy, grow share of wallet, strengthen market position, enhance people engagement and increase profits per partner.
Alan E. Schabes
Alan serves as a partner in Benesch’s Healthcare+ Practice Group and maintains a national health care law practice, including the representation on transactional and regulatory matters of health care private equity and venture capital investment firms, hospitals, post-acute care providers, behavioral health providers, physician and dental management service organizations, integrated delivery systems, and ancillary service providers including retail institutional pharmacy and therapy companies.
Alison K. Evans
Alison is a partner in Benesch’s Intellectual Property Practice Group. Her practice focuses on counseling clients in a variety of industries in the negotiation and execution of complex, high-value, IP and technology transactions matters, including inbound and outbound IP, IT and technology procurement, licenses, technology transfers and business process outsourcing matters across a variety of technologies. She regularly advises clients on data security and privacy matters, including compliance with U.S. and international privacy laws and regulations, such as GDPR, CCPA, FTC Act, Gramm Leach Bliley and others, responding to data security incidents and drafting website and mobile application privacy policies and terms of use.
Andrew J. Jarzyna
Andrew is a partner in Benesch’s Litigation Practice Group. His practice focuses on complex litigation. He has experience in state and federal trial and appellate courts throughout the country and in various types of commercial arbitration. Andrew has handled a broad spectrum of cases and claims, and he focuses on defending corporations from allegations of breach of contract, fraud, deceptive advertising and violations of RICO and consumer fraud statutes.
Andrew S. Nicoll
Andrew Nicoll is a partner in Benesch’s Commercial Finance & Banking Practice Group. Andy’s practice includes representing both lenders and borrowers in the origination and workout of syndicated, large corporate, commercial and middle-market credit facilities. He also represents creditors and debtors in foreclosures, receivership, bankruptcies and bankruptcy-related litigation. Andy has represented both buyers and sellers in Section 363 assets sales, and he has prosecuted and defended numerous fraudulent transfer and preference avoidance actions ranging in size from $10,000 to more than $600 million.
J. Erik Connolly
In his role at Benesch, Erik serves as a member of the firm’s Executive Committee, Managing Chair of the Litigation Practice Group and Co-Chair of the Securities Litigation Practice Group. He has represented Fortune 50 banking and financial institutions in securities fraud and other market manipulation cases, as well as Fortune 100 and 500 technology companies in consumer protection, fraud, breach of contract and trade secret cases. Additionally, Erik has represented large, publicly traded consumer product companies and privately held companies that are industry leaders in fields ranging from agriculture to precious metals to wealth management to accounting and auditing. Erik’s breadth of experience allows him to understand business objectives quickly, engage with business leaders on their terms, and give real “answers” instead of “overly conservative legal advice.” Among his most high-profile cases, Erik leads the team representing Smartmatic in its $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit.
Frank Carsonie
Frank is Chair of the firm’s Healthcare+ Practice Group. He is the Columbus Office Partner-in-Charge and a former member of the firm’s Executive Committee. When Frank is not leading the Benesch Healthcare + Practice Group and Columbus office, he is fully engaged in advising clients in health care and other regulated industries on transaction, regulatory and compliance matters. Frank’s transactional practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, reorganization, recapitalizations, divestitures, strategic alliances, joint ventures and capital financings, including private equity and other investor-led initiatives. The regulatory and compliance portion of Frank’s practice involves counseling clients on matters of fraud, waste and abuse, HIPAA, government enforcement scrutiny including responses to audits or investigative demands and mitigation of risk.
Joseph A. Castrodale
Joe is a partner and Executive Chair in Benesch’s Litigation Practice Group. Joe represents large corporate clients in complex business and commercial disputes in federal and state courts throughout the country. These cases encompass securities law claims, shareholder derivative suits, business torts, contract disputes, class actions, product liability, defense of consumer claims, UCC matters, trade secrets, sports law and non-compete disputes. Additionally, Joe’s expertise includes all types of ADR proceedings.
Jeffrey J. Wild
Jeffrey is the firm’s Chief Strategy Officer, Chair of the Real Estate & Environmental Practice Group and Firm Administrative Partner. Jeff focuses his practice on commercial real estate matters, with an emphasis on development, acquisitions, dispositions, financing and joint venture work. He has extensive experience in structuring, drafting and negotiating all types of complex development, redevelopment and financing documents. He is currently very active in the formation and documentation of complex joint venture relationships, as well as multiple levels of private and public project financing, as part of large multi-phased development projects, in addition to the representation of clients in connection with large one-off and portfolio acquisitions.
Manish K. Mehta
Manish is the Chicago office Partner-in-Charge and a member of the firm’s Executive Committee. His practice focuses on intellectual property litigation, post-grant reviews, patent prosecution and counseling. He has represented clients from a variety of industries, including pharmaceuticals, medical devices, automotive, e-commerce, chemical, and computer software and hardware. Manish is responsible for developing, creating and managing IP portfolios for his clients across a variety of industries.
Margo Wolf O’Donnell
Margo is Co-Chair of Benesch’s Labor & Employment Practice Group. Margo is a nationally recognized employment attorney with more than 25 years of experience litigating complex employment claims. Margo’s cases involve high stakes restrictive covenants and trade secrets, whistleblower claims, wage-and-hour issues, and statutory claims of harassment and discrimination. Margo also acts as a crisis manager and business advisor to her clients on best practices for workplace safety, compensation, leave issues, employment agreements, diversity and inclusion, individual and group discharges, and internal investigations. She has been widely recognized as one of the top employment attorneys in the country.
Meegan Brooks
Meegan is a partner in Benesch’s Retail & E-Commerce Group and an experienced trial lawyer who has dedicated her career to defending and advising retailers, hospitality companies and consumer product manufacturers. Meegan is focused on consumer actions alleging unfair or deceptive business practices, often involving false advertising, privacy and automatic renewal issues. She is also sought out by retailers to defend and advise on matters involving new and rapidly evolving issues—including the use of session replay technology, social media pixels and data cooperatives -- and to defend cases brought by government enforcers.
Mircea A. Tipescu
Mircea is a partner in Benesch’s Litigation Practice Group. Mircea represents clients in intellectual property litigation matters and provides strategic counseling regarding all facets of patent protection and enforcement. On the litigation side, he has represented domestic and multinational clients in federal court and before the International Trade Commission. His experience includes bench and jury trials, post-grant review proceedings, summary judgment proceedings, Markman hearings and fact and expert discovery.
Nicholas J. Secco
Nick is a nationally recognized trial lawyer whose practice revolves around complex commercial matters, toxic tort cases and environmental claims. He serves as the Chair of Benesch’s Trial Practice Group and was recognized by Benchmark Litigation as a National Litigation Star in 2024, based upon client reviews and feedback from peers who have seen him perform in court. Additionally, the Legal 500 identified him as a leading practitioner in the field of Mass Tort and Product Liability Defense, calling him a “trial expert.”