About Andrew A.
Andrew A. Chirls built a path that began in architecture and turned toward the law. He earned a B.A. in Design of the Environment (Architecture) from the University of Pennsylvania in 1977, then moved to Berkeley where he received his J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law in 1981. Those two degrees — one grounded in design and the other in law — have shaped a long career that spans trial courts, appellate benches and bar leadership.
Chirls’s early legal steps included a clerkship in 1988 with the U.S. District Court in New Jersey. He entered private practice soon after and by 1989 was a partner at Wolf, Block, Schorr & Solis-Cohen. That period established him in litigation circles and gave him experience on complex matters handled at the firm level.
His involvement in the legal community extended beyond the courtroom. In 2005 he served as Chancellor of the Philadelphia Bar Association, a role that placed him at the center of the city’s bar governance and professional programming. He holds memberships in national and professional bodies, including the American Law Institute and the American Bar Association, and he has been appointed to the Academy of Court (Appointed Masters), reflecting a sustained engagement with court administration and institutional work.
In 2009 Chirls joined Fineman Krekstein & Harris as a lawyer, bringing his courtroom and bar experience to the firm’s practice. Over the years he has appeared and been admitted in multiple jurisdictions: Pennsylvania state courts, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and the Supreme Court of the United States. That set of admissions has allowed him to represent clients in both trial and appellate settings.
Colleagues describe a lawyer who is comfortable handling matters that span trial litigation and appellate review, and who has moved between firm practice and institutional roles in the Philadelphia legal community. He has combined courtroom work with bar leadership and service in appointed court roles.
Chirls maintains offices in Philadelphia and Cherry Hill and continues to practice in state and federal courts, including matters at both trial and appellate levels.
