Brendhan was born in Virginia but spent most of his childhood living in Germany where he learned to speak German fluently. Before attending law school, Brendhan worked for several years as a civilian in the Transportation Corps of the U.S. Army, working in every facet of intermodal military transportation and ultimately specializing in port operations and maritime logistics while assigned at various U.S. ports in the Far East. He now practices primarily in the areas of admiralty and maritime litigation, including Jones Act defense, limitation of liability actions, vessel seizure, oil and gas defense and vessel and rig fabrication.