Thomas F. Reilly - Philadelphia, PA
Attorney at The Chartwell Law Offices, LLP
Personal Injury and Property Damage Defense Lawyers in Philadelphia, PA
One Logan Square 130 North 18th Street 26th Floor Philadelphia, PA 19103
Philadelphia Personal Injury and Property Damage Defense Lawyer
Updated: 03/16/2026
Areas of Practice
- Personal Injury and Property Damage Defense
- Mediation and Arbitration
- Product Liability, Commercial and Consumer
- Homeowner Premises Liability
- Construction Accidents
- Private Vehicular Liability
- Commercial Vehicular Liability
- Railroad Litigation, FELA and Third Party
- Dram Shop Liability
- Construction Defect Claims
- Commercial Litigation
- Professional Negligence
- Errors and Omissions Defense
- Construction Litigation
Attorney Information
Overview
Thomas F. Reilly graduated from St. Joseph's Preparatory School in 1969, St. Joseph's University in 1973 and Temple University School of Law in 1977. He served as a Judicial Law Clerk to the Honorable Charles A. Lord of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas from 1977 until 1978.
Mr. Reilly was a founding partner and shareholder at Gallagher, Reilly and Lachat from 1982 until 2000 and a partner with Swartz Campbell LLC from 2000 until 2011. Mr. Reilly is involved primarily in the defense of serious personal injury matters for insurers and self-insureds as well as commercial litigation (employment contracts, contractual disputes, negotiation of purchase agreements). His personal injury cases primarily involve products liability (commercial products such as forklifts, trucks, and other industrial equipment as well as consumer claims involving various small appliances, exploding or defective glass products, food products, etc.), construction accidents involving both workers and bystanders, commercial premises liability (such as slips, trips, and falls, failure to provide adequate security such as ATM assaults or tenant assaults, the infamous Pier 34 collapse, etc.), dram shop liability (hotels, banquet facilities, nightclubs, restaurants, pubs, etc.), commercial vehicular liability and private vehicular liability.
Mr. Reilly has handled hundreds of seven and eight figure cases over his 30 year career as a trial lawyer.
Mr. Reilly has a keen interest in trial advocacy, having received a Diploma in Teaching Advocacy Skills from the National Institute for Trial Advocacy in March of 1997. Since 1995 he has been on the faculty of the National Institute for Trial Advocacy's MidAtlantic Deposition Program, Taking and Defending Depositions, at Temple University School of Law. He was also certified as a Civil Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy, an organization accredited by the American Bar Association and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, in September of 2000 and recertified in 2005 and 2010.
In 2006, Mr. Reilly was initially named a Super Lawyer by Philadelphia Magazine and has been recognized as a Super Lawyer every year since 2006.
Awards and Honors
Honors
- Super Lawyer by Philadelphia Magazine, 2006
Education
-
Legal Education
-
Temple University School of Law,
Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, 1977
J.D.
-
Temple University School of Law,
Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, 1977
-
Non Legal Education
-
St. Joseph's University,
Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, 1973
B.A.
Major: American History/Classics
-
St. Joseph's University,
Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, 1973
Current Employment Position(s)
-
Attorney
Past Positions
- Honorable Charles A. Lord of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas , Judicial Law Clerk, 1977 - 1978
- Gallagher, Reilly and Lachat, Partner, - 2000
- Swartz Campbell, LLC, Partner, 2000 - 2011
Classes and Seminars
- MidAtlantic Deposition Program, Taking and Defending Depositions, National Institute For Trial Advocacy, Philadelphia, PA, 1995 - Present
Representative Clients
Harleysville Insurance Group
Wachovia Corporation
Modern Group, Ltd.
Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.
Avis Rent-A-Car Systems, Inc.
Representative Cases
-
Beswick v. Maguire
- Citation: 748 A.2d 701
- Court: Pa. Super.
- Year: 2000
-
Estate of Masi v. Oriente
- Citation: 790 A.2d 347
- Court: Pa. Super.
- Year: 2001
-
Simmers v. American Cyanamid
- Citation: 576 A.2d 376
- Court: Pa. Super.
- Year: 1990
-
Greisser v. National Railroad Passenger Corp.,
- Citation: 761 A.2d 606
- Court: Pa. Super.
- Year: 2000
-
Gorniak v. National Railroad Passenger Corp.,
- Citation: 888 F.2d 481
- Court: 3rd Cir.
- Year: 1989
Bar Admissions
- New Jersey, 1989
- Pennsylvania, 1977
- U.S. District Court Middle District of Pennsylvania
- U.S. District Court District of New Jersey
- U.S. Court of Appeals 3rd Circuit
- U.S. District Court Eastern District of Pennsylvania
Specialties and Certifications
- Civil Trial Advocate, National Board of Trial Advocacy, 2000
Other Affiliations
- Philadelphia Association of Defense Counsel (Member)
- Pennsylvania Defense Institute (Member)
- Philadelphia Bar Association (Member)
- American Bar Association, Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section; Section of Litigation (Member)
- American Association for Justice (Member)
- Pennsylvania Association for Justice (Member)
- Brehon Law Society (Member)
Photo
Contact
One Logan Square
130 North 18th Street
26th Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Phone: (610) 666-7700
Fax: (215) 972-7008
Email: Send a message
Website: http://www.chartwelllaw.com
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