Andrew T. Fitzgerald - Lakewood, CO

Andrew T. Fitzgerald is a partner at Grob & Eirich and has over twenty (20) years of legal experience as both a judicial officer and attorney in adoption, child welfare, family formation, and complex custody/guardianship matters.

Andrew’s practice focuses on adoption, child welfare, guardianship and custody cases, as well as mediation. Andrew represents prospective adoptive parents, foster parents, relatives, birth parents and serves as general counsel for numerous licensed adoption agencies in Colorado. Andrew's practice includes child adoptions, designated adoptions, interstate adoptions, stepparent adoptions, same sex adoptions, second parent adoptions, relative adoptions, disrupted adoptions, foster-parent adoptions, international adoptions, confirmatory adoptions and adoption subsidies. Andrew also represents intended parents and other individuals in discussing the risks and benefits of different avenues for family formation.

Andrew is a graduate of the Indiana University School of Law in Indianapolis, Indiana. In law school, Andrew volunteered for Amnesty International and headed the awareness committee. Andrew received his undergraduate Bachelor of Arts degree from Auburn University where he majored in English and was a member of the Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society.

In 2011, Andrew was appointed as a Magistrate in the 1st Judicial District / Jefferson County, Colorado and worked as a judicial officer in Jefferson County through 2023. He was the presiding Magistrate and handled a variety of case types, including Adoptions, Juvenile Dependency and Neglect, Juvenile Delinquency, Domestic Relations, as well as County Civil and Criminal cases, including the Jefferson County problem-solving Courts.

During his time as a Magistrate, Andrew served on the court’s Management Leadership Team, the Court Best Practices committee, and specifically the dependency and neglect system reform committee (DANSR). Andrew also served on the Juvenile Services Planning Committee, as well as Juvenile Review Board and chaired the First Judicial District problem-solving court steering committee and the First Judicial District policy and procedure sub-committee.

Andrew has been long recognized as a gifted teacher and mentor to both attorneys and new judicial officers and has presented annually for the Colorado State Judicial branch at the New Judge Orientation and Advanced New Judge Orientation on the role of Magistrates, Magistrate Jurisdiction, and Protection Orders. Andrew has also presented annual legal presentation for new Court Appointed Special Advocated (“CASA") volunteers in Jefferson County. Additional lectures / presentations include: Protection Orders, Family Law Basics: Indirect Contempt Practice, as well as presentations for the 1st JD Bar Association CLE presentations “Alternative Enforcement: Enforcing Orders without Contempt” and “Domestic Practice: Motions to Restrict Parenting Time.”

Prior to joining the bench, Andrew was a senior attorney at the Rocky Mountain Children's Law Center where he frequently litigated guardianship, custody, dependency and neglect, and adoption cases throughout Colorado. Andrew represented foster children, prospective adoptive parents, relative caregivers; and supervised attorneys and social workers who served as guardians ad litem in Colorado.

During his time at the law center, Andrew also provided legal training on roles and responsibilities of Guardians ad litem to Jefferson County and Adams County human services caseworkers. Andrew also presented at the annual 1st Judicial District Magistrate training on the Colorado Children’s Code and the role of Guardians ad Litem in judicial proceedings.

Prior to his time with the Children's Law Center, Andrew was an accomplished litigator in family law, and has experience in Administrative Court matters as well, successfully appealing a denial of Developmental Disabilities Resource Center (DDRC) eligibility for foster youth.