J. Philip Kirchner

J. Philip Kirchner is a member of the firm's Litigation Department and a former managing shareholder of the firm and past chair of its Litigation Department. He concentrates his practice on resolving business disputes, including complex litigation of all types of business issues in both federal and state courts, primarily in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. He has extensive experience representing public and private business entities and individuals in commercial litigation including arbitration, mediation, trial and appeals of contract disputes; insurance coverage claims; disputes among owners of closely held businesses, including “business divorce”; employment disputes, including claims of breach of a restrictive covenant; trademark infringement and theft of trade secret claims; claims under the state and federal securities laws; antitrust claims; and construction disputes. Mr. Kirchner also represents clients in estate and probate contests involving claims of undue influence, lack of capacity and breach of fiduciary duty. He recently argued and won a case before the New Jersey Supreme Court that clarified the narrow circumstances under which attorney’s fees can be awarded in a case of undue influence. He has also represented a company in the business of operating and managing casinos on licensing and compliance issues both in court and before state agencies.

In his capacity leading the Firm’s Restaurant & Hospitality Industry Group, Mr. Kirchner has represented his food service, restaurant and hospitality clients, including the South Jersey Independent Restaurant Association (a/k/a the “SJ Hot Chefs”), in a variety of matters, including: contract litigation; contract negotiation, drafting and review; trademark and tradename litigation; theft of trade secret cases; enforcing, defending and challenging restrictive covenants in employment contracts; landlord-tenant disputes; and various government regulatory issues. He also regularly counsels and advises his clients on ways to avoid regulatory problems in such areas as wage and hour issues, tipping policies, sales and employment withholding taxes, overtime pay and minimum wage.

Mr. Kirchner has presented seminars on a variety of substantive topics involving commercial litigation and also on a number of litigation practice-related topics, including writing effective briefs, successful discovery techniques, restrictive covenants in employment agreements, and the effective use of expert witnesses. He has chaired the Commercial Litigation Committee of the Camden County Bar Association for a number of years. He is also a former editor of New Jersey Lawyer magazine.

Prior to law school, Mr. Kirchner was a Dean of Students at several major US universities and colleges.

• Defense of Fortune 100 company officer against multiple class action lawsuits and civil action by SEC alleging securities fraud; avoided criminal prosecution for client and settled civil suits for no liability and no payment
• Summary judgment for corporate seller of office building and land, dismissing claims of fraud and mistake brought by purchaser in sale-leaseback transaction
• Successful settlement of multimillion-dollar claim for educational software vendor against school district
• Secured million-dollar judgment after trial for investor in publicly traded company
• Secured judgment after trial for government defense subcontractor against prime contractor for breach of teaming agreement

• Rated AV® Preeminent™ by Martindale-Hubbell
• Named a New Jersey "Super Lawyer," 2005, 2008, 2009 - 2019, by Thomson Reuters, publishers of New Jersey Super Lawyers
• Top Attorney List, Litigation, SJ Magazine, 2010, 2012, 2014
• Fellow, Litigation Counsel of America

A description of the standard or methodology on which the accolades are based can be found here. No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey. 

• Burlington County Bar Association
• Camden County Bar Association
• Chair, Commercial Litigation Committee
• Diversity Law Institute
• New Jersey State Bar Association
• Pennsylvania Bar Association 
• The Trial Law Institute
• The Association of the Federal Bar of New Jersey
• Litigation Counsel of America
• Fellow

• Mental Health Association, Southwestern New Jersey
  • Vice President, Board of Directors
  • Past President, Board of Directors
• Haddonfield Recreation Council
  • Member
• Building Baseball Dreams, Inc., a nonprofit company whose goal is to raise money for inner city youth baseball programs
  • President
• Haddonfield Little League
  • Past president