Mr. Phillips, a named member of the FHP firm, has over 40 years’ experience as legal counsel to individuals and labor organizations in the private and public sectors, providing representation on issues arising under state and federal labor and employment laws (SERB, LMRA, LMRDA, Title VII of Civil Rights Act, FMLA and ADA). He was also Outside Regional Counsel to the United Autoworkers (1970-1981), and was instrumental in helping preserve wages and benefits of union members during a time of intense downsizing in Ohio and neighboring states. Mr. Phillips has served as Outside General Counsel to the Ohio State Lodge, Fraternal Order of Police (1978-1988), and assisted in providing insight into the development of Ohio’s Collective Bargaining Law. He participated in actual drafting of several key provisions of the Ohio Labor Law including duty of fair representation and union election provisions. Currently Mr. Phillips is Advisory Counsel to the Ohio State Lodge and General Counsel to police union in more than forty governmental agencies.

Mr. Phillips has also successfully litigated and represented labor unions before a variety of federal and state agencies and courts, winning numerous discipline cases with concomitant back pay and benefit awards.

With the rapidly developing Ohio public sector labor law, Mr. Phillips has negotiated in excess of two hundred fifty labor contracts for various public sector unions including police officers, dispatchers, schoolteachers, Metroparks employees, record and file room clerks/technicians and corrections officers. He has represented a number of individual employees as a military consultant for the Department of Navy.   

Mr. Phillips is licensed to practice in all courts in the state of Ohio including the District Court for the Northern District of Ohio and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. He holds degrees from Indiana State College (B.S., 1962) and Cleveland Marshall College of Law, Cleveland State University (J.D., 1970).

Prior to law school Mr. Phillips served a tour of duty in Southeast Asia as a swift boat commander and was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with Combat "V." He eventually retired with the rank of Captain in the United States Navy.