James Benak is an experienced trial lawyer and former public company general counsel who advises large public companies across the utilities, engineering, transportation, manufacturing, consumer products and technology sectors. He has acted as lead trial counsel in high‑value and complex disputes in state and federal courts in the United States and internationally.
His litigation experience includes insurance coverage disputes, patent and trade secret infringement, medical device product liability, fraud and other significant commercial and regulatory matters. He has achieved a number of multimillion‑dollar recoveries for public company clients, including awards for bad faith and punitive damages, and has led labour negotiations in unionised environments.
In addition to his trial practice, James has extensive experience as a public company general counsel, advising boards of directors and senior management on corporate strategy, antitrust and competition law, corporate governance, transactions, employment matters, major litigation and mergers. He brings a strong commercial perspective informed by years of in‑house leadership in highly regulated and operationally complex businesses.
Prior to joining Spencer West, James held senior in‑house roles at Union Pacific Railroad, where he led financial litigation and served as general counsel for the Information and Technology Division and its technology subsidiaries. He later served as general counsel of Wallace Computer Services, Inc., a NYSE‑listed company, working closely with the board on antitrust, governance and business strategy.
Earlier in his career, James was a partner at Jenner & Block, where he developed his trial practice handling patent infringement, trade secret disputes, restrictive covenant matters, trade dress, insurance coverage, fraud and complex commercial litigation across the US, Europe and Asia.