Andrew A. Chirls

Andrew A. Chirls is a distinguished attorney with a comprehensive background in both business and tort litigation. He earned his law degree from the University of California (Boalt Hall) School of Law and began his career as a clerk for the U.S. District Court in New Jersey. Following his clerkship, he dedicated 25 years to litigation at Wolf, Block, Schorr & Solis-Cohen, where he became a partner in 1989 and served until 2009.

In 2005, Mr. Chirls held the esteemed position of Chancellor of the Philadelphia Bar Association. His expertise in class actions and mass torts is well-recognized, having served as both an advocate and a neutral in significant multi-district litigation. Notably, he was appointed by the United States District Court in Philadelphia in 2013 to manage discovery disputes in the Zoloft Birth Defects litigation. Additionally, he acts as the Common Benefit Fund Administrator for the Avandia litigation and has served as class counsel in various securities cases, including representing the AHP Settlement Trust in a $4.3 billion class settlement related to the diet drug Fen Phen.

In the realm of business litigation, Mr. Chirls has handled cases involving contracts from mergers, acquisitions, and dissolutions. He is also an authority on property rights and condemnation law, focusing on the constitutional rights of property owners during government and utility company property acquisitions.

Mr. Chirls provides representation and consultation in attorney discipline and professional ethics matters. His experience in torts includes being the first lawyer to represent a plaintiff in an AIDS/HIV discrimination jury trial in Pennsylvania and serving as lead defense counsel in a class action concerning toxic metal exposure at a dialysis clinic.