Andrew M. Erdlen, litigator and problem-solver, offers efficient, business-oriented solutions. He advises entities, owners, managers, and other stakeholders in commercial disputes.
Resolving thorny legal issues in creative and cost-effective ways is at the heart of Andrew’s practice. He litigates complex disputes involving contracts, fraud, and fiduciary obligations. Andrew advises clients in matters arising from the rights, obligations, and duties of privately-held companies and their managers and stakeholders, such as shareholder and partnership disputes. His practice also crosses into intellectual property and employment law, as he represents clients in restrictive covenant and other contract disputes.
Public and private interests often collide, leading to complicated litigation over fundamental questions of public law. Andrew helps navigate the tensions between local, state and federal law, and has represented clients, for example, who successfully challenged business regulations. His work also includes counseling public officials about constitutional questions, including those relating to the allocation of authority to government branches and officials and other matters of state and federal law.
His clients range from large corporations to individuals. Clients reside in industries including financial services, consumer products, education, manufacturing, retail, e-commerce, professional services and renewable energy.
When not helping individuals and businesses solve pressing commercial issues, Andrew maintains an active pro bono practice. He is on the board of Philadelphia VIP, a community legal services organization for low-income individuals facing legal problems that threaten their basic needs. He has represented prisoner clients in civil rights litigations. Recently, he advised an anti-torture organization that participated as amicus in a challenge to the use of evidence obtained by torture in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Prior to joining the firm, Andrew was a litigation associate at an AmLaw 100 firm in New York, where he focused on corporate and securities litigation.
Representative Matters
- Represented a private association in successfully challenging a Philadelphia ordinance as preempted by state law at both the federal District Court and U.S. Court of Appeals.
- Represented minority shareholder in contentious business divorce involving allegations of mismanagement and shareholder oppression, resulting in litigation, a settlement and buyout.
- Represented minority shareholder of a private corporation in pre-litigation valuation and buyout negotiations with allegations of mismanagement by co-owner.
- Represented a national entertainment company in a telecommunications patent litigation involving multimillion-dollar damages claims.
- Represented energy company in dispute over joint venture agreement, including preliminary injunction proceedings.
- Represented consumer products company in litigation with former officer over alleged multimillion dollar bonus agreement.
- Helped represent the City of Philadelphia in successfully defending the Philadelphia Beverage Tax, including at the trial court and appeals to the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court and Supreme Court.
- Represented a private preschool against charges of unlawful discrimination in violation of state and federal law, including in an appeal to the New Jersey Appellate Division.