Philip Andonian, Esq.

Philip (“Phil”) Andonian, Esq. is a Partner at Wilshire Law Firm and a trial lawyer with over 24 years of experience as a practicing attorney. He has tried more than two dozen cases to verdict over his career. He represents people in personal injury cases, drawing on a career that also includes criminal defense work and 12 years of teaching law school courses and clinical programs.

For Phil, the most important thing a lawyer can do is stay client-centered. “No matter how good we are, no matter how hard we fight, nothing should ever become more important than the interests of our clients — the people who put their lives in our hands when they need help and have nowhere else to turn,” he says. He believes zealous advocacy can and should be practiced with compassion, humility, and mutual respect, and that lawyers must also draw clear lines for their clients and hold them at all costs. In every case, he engages his adversaries with courage, conviction, and the full weight of his skills and resources to get his clients the results they deserve.

Phil has stood his ground for the underdog since he was a kid. He knew he wanted to be a lawyer in fifth grade, after watching his first episode of Matlock, and the show’s focus on creative investigation and client advocacy has stayed with him ever since.

Phil also teaches the next generation of trial lawyers. He teaches a course on evidentiary foundations and objections at American University Washington College of Law in Washington, D.C., and is a faculty member of Harvard Law School’s Trial Advocacy Workshop, an intensive three-week course that prepares student advocates to handle real cases in court. He also serves as a hearing committee chair for the D.C. Board on Professional Responsibility, which oversees and adjudicates disciplinary actions brought against members of the D.C. Bar.

Phil earned his B.A. from the University of Michigan and his J.D. from Santa Clara University School of Law. Outside of work, he plays bass in a band and spends as much time as he can with his wife and two kids.