National law firm whose Transportation and Logistics group handles freight claims, FMCSA compliance, contracts, M&A and employment issues for carriers, brokers, 3PLs and shippers.
Services
Who it serves
Overview
Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff LLP is a national law firm founded in Cleveland in 1938. Its Transportation and Logistics group is a multidisciplinary team of transactional, regulatory and litigation attorneys that works with both users and providers of transportation services, nationally and internationally, across surface, rail, water and air.
The group's page says seven of its attorneys previously worked in-house at motor carriers and freight forwarders, which gives the team an operator's view of how freight deals and disputes play out. The group is co-led by Eric L. Zalud and Jonathan R. Todd in Cleveland and Marc S. Blubaugh in Columbus.
The firm lists offices in Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus, New York, San Francisco and Wilmington, Delaware, with a Miami office listed as coming soon.
Compare with other Transportation Attorneys providers: Taylor Nelson Slattery Bernard PL, Holland & Knight and Husch Blackwell, or see all Transportation Attorneys.
Services
Freight claims and litigation. The group handles cargo claims, vehicular casualty matters, freight charge disputes and coverage disputes, and raises preemption defenses under federal transportation law.
Regulatory. Its page lists FMCSA and transportation compliance programs, mock safety audits, safety rating upgrades, CSA score improvement, operating authority, international trade compliance and enforcement defense before agencies such as FMCSA, TSA, the Federal Maritime Commission and Customs and Border Protection.
Contracts. The team drafts and negotiates shipper-carrier, broker, warehousing, drayage, intermodal, ocean and multimodal agreements, and builds transportation contract templates.
Transactions and finance. It handles due diligence, acquisitions and capital raises for transportation businesses.
Labor and employment. The firm calls this integral because the industry is labor intensive. Listed work includes independent contractor classification, Truth-in-Leasing, employee handbooks, restrictive covenants, workforce transitions and WARN Act compliance.
Business structuring. The group also advises on new service models such as warehousing concepts and brokerage operations, and it has a related International Trade and Supply Chain Management practice.
Who it is for
Benesch lists motor, air, rail and maritime carriers; freight intermediaries including brokers, surface, air and ocean freight forwarders and NVOCCs; warehouses; shippers and consignees; and third-party logistics providers. It also serves as outside general counsel to several industry trade associations.
For a freight broker, the group's mix of contract drafting, freight claims and regulatory work covers most of the legal questions a growing brokerage runs into. For a carrier, the safety rating, CSA and enforcement defense work is the most relevant. Shippers can use it for carrier and broker contract programs and for cargo loss disputes.
How working with them works
Benesch does not publish fees for transportation work. Engagements at national firms typically begin with a conflict check and an engagement letter setting the scope and billing terms. The group publishes a practice snapshot tear sheet and articles by its attorneys, which can help you judge fit before you call.
The group is active in industry organizations. Its page cites annual speaking at the Intermodal Association of North America's legal seminar, membership and conference speaking with the Transportation Intermediaries Association, long-standing participation in the Conference of Freight Counsel, and work with the Transportation Lawyers Association, the American Trucking Associations, the Transportation Loss Prevention and Security Association and the Air Forwarders Association. Many readers first meet the team at one of those events.
Questions to ask before you sign
Do you represent the other party in my dispute, or any of my main customers or carriers? Large transportation groups often represent many companies in the same lanes.
Which attorney will lead my matter, and have they handled this exact kind of issue, for example a broker liability claim, a conditional safety rating or a Carmack cargo claim?
What will this cost? Ask for hourly rates by attorney level, whether flat fees are available for contract templates or mock audits, and how you will be billed for small claims.
Which states are your attorneys admitted in, and will you bring in local counsel if a case is filed elsewhere?
For a contract project: will you review my existing broker-carrier and shipper agreements and tell me what to change first, and how long will it take?
Company background
According to the firm's history page, Benesch was founded in 1938 in Cleveland by Alfred A. Benesch, Jerome M. Friedlander and I. Robert Morris as a three-attorney partnership. Robert C. Coplan joined in 1945 and George N. Aronoff in 1958, and the firm adopted its current name in 1975. It marked its 85th anniversary in 2023.
The firm describes itself as a full-service national law firm and lists six current offices plus a planned Miami office. It does not state a total attorney count on the pages reviewed. The transportation group is one of several industry groups at the firm.
Sources
Information compiled from public sources. Last verified November 2026. Confirm details directly with the company.
