Overview

Andrew Kassof is one of the leaders of Kirkland’s litigation practice and serves on the Firm’s Executive Committee.

In back to back months this year, The American Lawyer recognized Andrew as its national “Litigator of the Week” for work on different cases—once for a defense victory in a False Claims Act suit in federal court in Illinois and the second for a Delaware Chancery Court victory for a buyer in a broken deal dispute. In the latter, the court “adopted” Andrew’s oral argument as “the grounds for its opinion” after “finding that Mr. Kassof’s exposition, explanation, and reasoning aligned with what I would write in a written opinion.” The next month, Andrew secured the dismissal of another False Claims Act case for a different client in federal court in Florida.

Andrew’s commercial litigation practice cuts across different industries and types of cases. Twice he has tried billion dollar cases to successful verdicts—once on the plaintiff side in a fraud-based suit in federal court in NY, and the other for the defense in a False Claims Act case in Texas; has successfully first-chaired dozens of additional cases in state courts, federal courts, and arbitration; and has represented corporate clients from different industries in various types of complex commercial disputes, False Claims Act suits, class actions, and other cases in state and federal courts in nearly every state in the country.

In the past year, Andrew has secured awards for plaintiffs and dismissals for defendants in commercial cases seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in Illinois, Minnesota, New York, Texas, Massachusetts, Delaware and California. In the False Claims Act space, Andrew has litigated and obtained dismissals and judgments in Massachusetts, Texas, Florida, New Jersey, Illinois and California. In sports cases, Andrew has successfully represented various sports teams, including the Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Angels, sports owners, the United States Soccer Federation, sports leagues, and players and coaches from the NBA, NFL and college. Law360 named Andrew one of five “Sports MVPs” in its national “MVPs of the Year” list.

Andrew also leads Kirkland’s alternative fee program for the litigation group and often handles both plaintiff and defense-side cases on flat fee, success fee or contingency fee structures for multiple firm clients.

More

Recognition

Recognized in Chambers USA for Litigation: General Commercial, 2023

Recognized as one of the “500 Leading Lawyers in America” by Lawdragon, 2021–2023

Recognized as "Litigator of the Week" by The American Lawyer Litigation Daily, June 19, 2020 and July 24, 2020

Litigation practice recognized as 2021 Litigation Department of the Year, The American Lawyer

Selected as a 2016 “Sports MVP” in Law360’s “MVPs of the Year” list

Featured in “Sports Group Of The Year: Kirkland & Ellis,” Law360, January 20, 2016

Named one of “40 Illinois Attorneys Under Forty” to watch by the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin

Practice featured and profiled, Chicago Daily Law Bulletin

Selected as a “Leading Lawyer” in both Commercial Litigation and Class Action Law

Recognized by Benchmark Litigation

Recognized in The Legal 500 U.S.

Recognized by Super Lawyers magazine

Credentials

Admissions & Qualifications

  • Illinois
  • New York

Courts

  • United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
  • United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Trial Bar
  • United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
  • United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois
  • United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida
  • United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

Education

  • The George Washington University Law SchoolJ.D.magna cum laude1997
    Order of the Coif
  • University of VirginiaB.A.magna cum laude1994