CONTACT

E: [email protected]

P: 662-563-4613

F: 662-563-1546

Download vCard

Flip Phillips is a founding partner of Smith, Phillips, Mitchell, Scott & Nowak, LLP. He is a graduate of the University of Mississippi School of Law where he served as President of the Law School Student Body and Member of the Mississippi Law Journal. For over 40 years, Flip has represented plaintiffs and insurance policyholders nationwide. Flip's landmark cases have helped abolish sovereign immunity and define the rules of automobile insurance in Mississippi. They have expanded the role of punitive and extra-contractual damages in personal injury litigation insurance regulation and contract enforcement throughout the United States.

A pioneer in the field of 21st Century civil litigation, Flip has served as Lead Class Counsel, Co-Lead Counsel and member of the Plaintiffs Steering Committees in nationwide class actions and Multi-District Litigation throughout the nation.  His cases have involved life insurance deceptive sales practices, interest crediting practices, supplemental health insurance, cancer insurance, institutional investment and financial products, and personal injury/defective products cases. Flip's multi-million dollar jury verdicts in individual cases have been recognized in the National Law Journals “Top 100” verdicts; the Wall Street Journal, LawyersUSA, and the Canadian Press. He is a prolific author and frequent lecturer, presenting papers from coast to coast for ALI-ABA, ACI, American Inns of Court, multiple Bar Associations, and professional organizations as diverse as the American Association for Justice (AAJ), National Association of Consumer Advocates (NACA) and even the Defense Research Institute (DRI).

Born in 1947, Flip is a native of North Mississippi. Flip and his wife Vera, also a University of Mississippi graduate, are the parents of three children and six grandchildren.

PRACTICE AREAS

EDUCATION

  • University of Mississippi (B.A. 1969)
  • University of Mississippi (J.D. 1972)

BAR ADMISSIONS

  • Mississippi
  • United States Supreme Court
  • U.S. District Courts of Mississippi
  • Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals

HONORS & DISTINCTIONS

  • Martindale-Hubbell AV
    Pre-eminent Rating
  • Best Lawyers in America
  • National Law Journal
    “100 Top Verdicts in America” (2002)
  • Trial Lawyer of the Year
    Mississippi Association for Justice (2009)
  • Fellow, Mississippi Bar
    Foundation

PROFESSIONAL AND COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES

  • American College of Coverage and Extra-Contractual Counsel, Board of Regents, Policyholder Representative
  • Adjunct professor:  University of Mississippi School of Law (Complex Litigation: Class Actions and Multi-District Litigation.
  • William C. Keady Chapter of the American Inns of Court, President 2002-04
  • American Association for Justice
  • Mississippi Trial Lawyers Association, President 1993-94
  • American Bar Association
  • University of Mississippi Lamar Order
  • Board of Directors of University of Mississippi Law School Alumni Association
  • Panola County Industrial Development Foundation President, 1993-94
  • Batesville Presbyterian Church Elder/Deacon/Trustee

PUBLICATIONS & PRESENTATIONS:

  • “EPIC CHANGE: 21st Century Civil Litigation,” American Inns of Court (January 19, 2017)
  • “Civil Litigation in the 21st Century,” Seventeenth Annual Trial Practice Seminar, J.P. Coleman State Park, July 22, 2016
  • “Why Mississippi Needs a Rule 23 State Court Class Action Procedure,” The Mississippi Bar Summer School For Lawyers, Sandestin, Florida, July 12, 2016
  • “The Scope and Significance of Extra-Contractual Damages in Mississippi Insurance Litigation Today”ACCEC 2014 Insurance Law Symposium, University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS (March 21, 2014)
  • “Post-Catastrophe Institutional Bad Faith Litigation,” AAJ Annual Convention, San Francisco, CA (July 22, 2013)
  • “The Vanishing Jury Trial,” United States District Court Bench and Bar CLE Seminar, University of Mississippi, (October 7, 2011)/MSB Summer School for Lawyers, Destin, Florida (July 10, 2013)
  • “The Invisible Foundation,” American Constitution Society. University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS (October 22, 2012)
  • “Insurance Issues Arising Out of Hurricane Katrina” 2006 MSB Summer School for Lawyers, Sandestin, Florida, (July, 3, 2006)
  • “The Institutional Bad Faith Case For the Plaintiff,” 12th ACI Advanced National Forum on Bad Faith and Punitive Damages, Miami Beach, Florida (November 15, 2005)
  • “Trying The Punitive Damage Case,” American Conference Institute (ACI), National Advanced Forum On Litigating Bad Faith In Punitive Damages, San Francisco, CA. (March 29, 2004)
  • “State Litigation Trends in Life and Health Insurance Litigation,” ALI-ABA Conference on Life and Health Insurance  Litigation, Washington, D.C. (May 02, 2002)
  • “Class Actions and Joinder in Mississippi,” Richard T. Phillips, 71 MISSISSIPPI LAW JOURNAL 447 (Winter 2001)
  • SYMPOSIUM LITIGATION IN MISSISSIPPI TODAY, University of Mississippi School of Law, Oxford, Mississippi (November 09, 2001)
  • “Innovative Class Action Strategies,” National Consumer Litigation Conference, CLASS ACTION SYMPOSIUM, Baltimore, Maryland (October 29, 2001)
  • “Civil Litigation at the Dawn of the 21st Century,” Keynote Address, Richard T. Phillips, NATIONAL CONSUMER RIGHTS LITIGATION CONFERENCE, Denver, Colorado (October 28, 2000)
  • “The Trial of Individual Life Insurance Deceptive Sales Practices Cases,” Richard T. Phillips, ALI-ABA Conference on Life and Health Insurance Litigation, San Francisco, CA (August 24, 2000)
  • “Individual Life Insurance Deceptive Sales Practices Cases–Analysis of the Litigation,” Richard T. Phillips. ALI-ABA Conference on Life and Health Insurance Litigation, New York (May 12, 2000)
  • “Vanishing Premiums / Vanishing Trust: Sales Practices Litigation Against Life Insurance Companies: The Plaintiffs' Perspective,” Richard T. Phillips, DEFENSE RESEARCH INSTITUTE Business Litigation Seminar, New York, New York (May 14, 1999)
  • “Vanishing Premium Litigation,” MSB Summer School for Lawyers, Richard T. Phillips, Destin, Florida (July 9, 1996)
  • “Sovereign Immunity in Mississippi,” THE MISSISSIPPI BAR, 1993 Mid-Year Meeting, Natchez, Mississippi (February 26, 1993)
  • “Uninsured Motorist Coverage and Other Insurance Developments,” MSB Summer School for Lawyers, Destin, Florida (July 8, 1991)
  • “Wrongful Death,” Richard T. Phillips, AUTOMOBILE ACCIDENT LAW & PRACTICE (Multi-Volume Treatise) MATTHEW BENDER (1988)
  • MISSISSIPPI AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE, First Edition, Richard T. Phillips, HARRISON COMPANY (1987)
  • “Underinsured Motorist Coverage,” Richard T. Phillips, NO FAULT & UNINSURED MOTORIST AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE (Multi-Volume Treatise) MATTHEW BENDER (1984)
  • “Underinsured Motorist Coverage in Mississippi,” Richard T. Phillips, 3 MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE LAW REVIEW 65 (Fall, 1982)
  • “A Guide to Uninsured Motorist Insurance Law in Mississippi,” Richard T. Phillips, 52 MISSISSIPPI LAW JOURNAL 255 (June, 1982)

…among others.