Born in Tupelo, Mississippi, in 1960, Philip was a Stricker Scholar and National Merit Scholar at Millsaps College. Philip studied Philosophy at Ole Miss Graduate School and graduated from law school there in 1986. He worked as an Extern for the 17th Mississippi Circuit Court District and as a Public Defender in Grenada County as a provisional member of the Bar in 1985, and began practice as an Attorney and Mediator/Arbitrator in the Jackson, Mississippi, area in 1986. He is presently also the Court Liaison for the Mississippi State Hospital at Whitfield, Mississippi.
Philip is a certified Mediator and Arbitrator. He is a former Chair of the Mississippi Bar Alternative Dispute Resolution Section, where he helped plan and develop the Mississippi Appellate Mediation Program. He also helped develop a Criminal Mediation Program for the Municipal Court of Jackson, Mississippi, that was selected as a model by the American Bar Association. Philip has served as a Mediator/Arbitrator in over 500 cases. He has also conducted extensive Mediation training and education for attorneys, judicial officials, insurance and business professionals, and mediators.
Philip’s civil law practice has focused on trial and appellate court practice, alternative dispute resolution, litigation, insurance, agency, employment, training, claims processing procedures, policy/contract formulation and interpretation, court and business forms and rule formulation, and state/federal regulatory matters. He practices before state and federal regulatory agencies, all state and federal courts in Mississippi, the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court. Philip also works in the criminal law field, with particular specialization in cases involving mental health issues. He has also been selected by his peers and by judicial appointment to serve on numerous commissions, boards, educational organizations, and service organizations for professional or civic purposes.
Philip has represented parties in over 250 jury trials and administrative matters in Mississippi’s state and federal courts and agencies. He has given lectures and taught seminars to businesses, employees, professionals, students, attorneys, judges, mediators, arbitrators, administrators, counselors, teachers, law enforcement, public officials, and lay persons on such topics as administrative/regulatory matters, trial practice, appellate practice, mental health administration, criminal law, court administration, agency, aesthetics, philosophy, employment and training, forms development and interpretation, insurance, contracts, claims processing, bad faith, ethics, litigation, arbitration, mediation, and personal injury claims.
Philip served as a Vestry Member and as Chair of the Servant Ministries Committee at The Chapel of the Cross Episcopal Church in Madison, Mississippi. He and his wife are now communicants at St. Andrew’s Cathedral in Jackson, Mississippi. Philip is also a graduate of the Education for Ministry program of The University of the South.