Philip Andonian

Philip Andonian is a partner in the Silicon Valley office of Messner Reeves, where his practice focuses on white collar criminal defense, litigation, and labor and employment cases. He brings significant experience representing those accused of a crime, under investigation by the government, seriously injured by someone else’s misconduct, or harmed by unlawful working conditions.

Philip is a formidable and highly respected litigator who has tried more than two dozen cases to verdict. He also has experience representing clients in administrative hearings and arbitrations.

Prior to joining the Messner Reeves team, he co-founded his own boutique litigation firm, which he ran for four years.  Prior to that, he served as of counsel in one of the country’s leading labor and employment firms, where he represented local and international unions in all manners of litigation. Philip also worked as an attorney in the trial and appellate divisions of the public defender’s office in Washington, D.C. and as a law clerk to the Honorable Robert E. Morin, a former Chief Judge of the D.C. Superior Court.

In addition to his active law practice client work, Philip is active in the legal community. Philip also has substantial experience teaching litigation skills to lawyers and law students. He serves as a faculty member of Harvard Law School’s Trial Advocacy Workshop and is an adjunct professor of law at American University Washington College of Law, where he teaches trial advocacy and evidence. He also frequently leads litigation training for experienced lawyers around the country. Phil is a member of the Edward Bennett Williams American Inn of Court, an invitation-only professional organization that has the distinction of being one of only a few Inns of Court focusing on white-collar criminal prosecution and defense. In January 2024, Phil was appointed as Chair of one of the regular hearing committees for the D.C. Board on Professional Responsibility, where he oversees proceedings involving allegations of ethical violations under the D.C. Rules of Professional Conduct.

He is admitted to practice in California and the District of Columbia, as well as before the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, the United States District Court for the Central District of California, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Philip received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan and earned his juris doctorate from the Santa Clara University School of Law.