Phillips, George J.
Phillips, George J.
Member
George Phillips concentrates his practice in the areas of corporate and business law, communications law, labor and employment law and commercial and business litigation. He has extensive experience in negotiating and facilitating significant business acquisitions and complicated commercial transactions and agreements, including international contract negotiations. He serves as the general counsel for several companies that do not have an in-house counsel. He is the utility infielder for legal issues for a national pet supply company, regional mortgage company, solar equipment manufacturer and a remediation company, managing their contracts, compliance issues, regulatory issues, liability claims and litigation matters. Practicing in the firm’s Sumner County office, George also provides business and legal advice to a number of growing Sumner County businesses and to companies considering locating in Middle Tennessee.
Prior to joining the firm, George spent 10 years as general counsel and senior vice president of a national home shopping network, a public company later acquired by a national communications company. In this capacity, he negotiated and coordinated the closing of many major transactions and securities offerings and the purchase and sale of television stations across the U.S. In addition, George administered all SEC compliance and corporate compliance programs, ensuring that the sales and pricing claims were truthful and substantiated under the Federal Trade Commission regulations and laws. As a result of his efforts, the network was the only major general merchandise home shopping network that was never the target of an FTC action. George also has extensive experience in labor and employment issues, having supervised the company’s human resources department and administered the organization’s stock option plan. In his role as general counsel, he actively managed all litigation, bringing more than 60 lawsuits to successful conclusions. Finally, he led an intellectual property initiative and instituted the company’s government relations program.
George has worked in the government sector, serving as counselor to the Assistant Attorney General, Civil Division, in the United States Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. from 1993 through 1997. He served as the chief of staff to the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division that managed complex national civil litigation. He also supervised the Office of Consumer Litigation, which represented the Food and Drug Administration, Federal Trade Commission and Consumer Product Safety Commission. He successfully defended the FDA’s regulation of cigarettes in oral argument in the United States District Court in Greensboro, N.C. Although the FDA ultimately lost in the U.S. Supreme Court, George counts this case as one of his proudest moments of his legal career. “The attention this case brought forced many of the tobacco companies to voluntarily adopt many of the regulations that were being considered by the FDA to discourage young people from starting to smoke and later was passed into law” he says.
George originally practiced law as an associate at Baker, Worthington, Crossley, Stansberry & Woolf in Nashville, primarily handling corporate and government defense litigation. He also worked to develop a compliance program for a major defense contractor in response to the FBI’s “I11-Wind” investigation that helped the company avoid a criminal prosecution.
George attributes his interest in law to his oldest brother, Johnny, who practices in Gallatin. “When I was in high school I helped him on a number of cases,” George explains. “His commitment to ensuring that folks got a fair shake showed me the ability of attorneys to help people in a very direct way and made me want to be a lawyer.”
A native of Sumner County, George resides in Gallatin with his wife, Patricia Flavin Phillips, and four sons, Canton, Jordan and twins Erin and Daniel. George and his family are members of the Gallatin First United Methodist Church.
