Rena has substantial trial and arbitration hearing experience, including acting as lead counsel/first chair trial counsel in complex commercial, employment, IP and trade secret theft litigation matters, and she routinely handles expedited litigation such as restraining orders, attachments and injunctions.
Rena maintains an active appellate practice and has argued before the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and the First Department of the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division. She has extensive experience litigating in state and federal jurisdictions. She also litigates matters before international and domestic arbitration forums, including the AAA (and the ICDR), JAMS, FINRA, the SMA and the ICC. Rena additionally handles internal investigation and government investigation matters that arise out of, or in relation to, civil disputes. Rena has deep experience in complex electronic discovery and counsels clients on practical and legal issues relating to forensic preservation and analysis of electronic devices.
Rena also has deep experience in the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion field, having spent years as Chair of Diversity & Inclusion at her prior firm. She routinely consults with clients on policies, initiatives and best practices.
Prior to entering the legal profession, Rena was a professional violist.
Rena’s broad practice includes:
Trade Secret and Restrictive Covenant Litigation
Rena has served as lead jury trial counsel in trade secret and restrictive covenant litigation. Rena also handles preliminary injunction hearings and expedited litigation with respect to the enforcement of restrictive covenants, including employee and client non-solicitation agreements, trade secret restrictions and covenants not to compete. As examples, she obtained a complete defense verdict for a company and individuals accused of corporate raiding and trade secret theft in the financial industry, and she obtained a stipulated temporary restraining order on behalf of a military contractor who had two employees abscond with over a million data files.
General Commercial and Business Litigation
Rena handles contract and tort disputes involving numerous industries, including healthcare, financial services, real estate, technology, military contracting, entertainment, advertising, cybersecurity and energy (including numerous facets of the renewable energy industry), among many others. She additionally defends board members in breach of fiduciary duty actions as well as lawsuits involving investors (with respect to both private and public companies). She has handled many actions arising out of insolvencies, such as clawback and fraudulent conveyance litigations.
Intellectual Property Litigation
Rena regularly litigates copyright and patent cases. In addition to her work in standard intellectual property jurisdictions, she practices in the Court of Federal Claims defending military contractors against infringement claims made in connection with work done for the United States Government.
False Claims Act Litigation
Rena has experience defending companies in cases that have proceeded from the Civil Investigative Demand phase to litigation. Among her experience, she represented a health care provider in a major False Claims Act case in the Southern District of New York.
Discrimination Claim Litigation
Rena has a long track record of successfully defending companies against claims of discrimination. Her successes include a victory on a motion to dismiss age and gender discrimination claims, as well as wage claims, in the Southern District of New York.
Internal Investigations
Rena has conducted a number of internal investigations relating to whistleblower allegations and other workplace complaints. Those investigations include subject matter such as theft, various forms of fraud and discrimination/harassment.
Government Actions
Rena has represented a number of clients investigated by government agencies and/or regulators, or subpoenaed as witnesses in those investigations. She has represented clients in connection with investigations overseen by organizations including the New York Attorney General’s office, the Department of Justice, the Southern District of New York, the Central District of California, and numerous bank and financial service regulators.