Taft, one of the fastest-growing law firms in the country, announced today that partner Lauren Benjamin has joined the firm’s Chicago office. Benjamin focuses her practice on sophisticated estate planning, wealth preservation, business succession, and philanthropic planning for ultra-high-net-worth individuals and families, entrepreneurs, and business executives.

Benjamin represents the latest arrival to Taft’s Private Client practice this year, which has added 11 attorneys across the country to date in 2026.

Benjamin advises clients on strategies designed to minimize income, gift, estate, and generation-skipping transfer taxes while advancing their personal, family, business, and charitable goals. She works closely with family offices, accountants, in-house counsel, and other trusted advisors to develop planning structures tailored to each client’s circumstances.

Her practice includes the design and implementation of dynasty and directed trusts, family investment vehicles, leveraged sales to intentionally defective grantor trusts, grantor retained annuity trusts, life insurance trusts, and asset protection trusts. Benjamin also counsels clients on trust modifications, including decanting and nonjudicial settlement agreements, to modernize existing trusts, respond to changed circumstances, and reduce or eliminate state income tax exposure. She has particular experience with trusts that are grandfathered or otherwise exempt from generation-skipping transfer tax.

Benjamin joins Taft’s growing Chicago office, which recently moved up three spots to No. 11 in the annual ranking of Chicago’s largest law firms, and now has nearly 200 attorneys.

“Lauren brings sophisticated technical knowledge and a practical, highly personalized approach to advising individuals and families on their most important planning matters,” said Cezar “Cid” M. Froelich, Taft Chicago Partner and Chairman. “Her experience will be a valuable addition to our clients and to the continued growth of our Chicago office.”

“Lauren’s ability to navigate complex estate, tax, and trust-planning issues will further strengthen the services we provide to high-net-worth clients, family offices, and closely held businesses,” said Paul Jenson, Partner-in-Charge of Taft’s Chicago office. “We are excited to welcome her to Taft and look forward to the perspective and depth she brings to our team in Chicago and our growing Private Client practice nationally.”

In addition to her estate-planning practice, Benjamin advises clients on business succession matters and charitable planning, including the formation and administration of private foundations and charitable trusts.

Following the completion of three mergers in 2025, today Taft has more than 1,250 attorneys in 25 offices and revenues exceeding $1 billion.