Bradley S. Phillips Elected as Co-Chair of Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law's Board of Directors
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 19, 2009
CONTACT:
Stacie B. Royster
202-662-8317, office
202-445-6101, mobile
sroyster@lawyerscommittee.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Bradley S. Phillips, litigation partner in the Los Angeles office of Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP, was elected Co-Chair of the Board of Directors of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, effective September 14, 2009. As Co-Chair together with John S. Kiernan, partner, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, he will lead an influential Board of over 200 members.
"Mr. Phillips brings a wealth of experience, leadership skills and compassion to our Board," said Lawyers' Committee Executive Director Barbara Arnwine. "His invaluable insight will indeed help to further distinguish us as a leading civil rights organization as we continue our quest of justice and equality for all."
A Lawyers' Committee board member since 1998, Mr. Phillips has previously served as a member of the Executive Committee and as a Regional Vice-Chair. "As our nation continues to struggle with issues of race and equality, I look forward to working with John Kiernan to fulfill the mission and vision set forth by President John F. Kennedy over 45 years ago to involve the private bar in providing legal services to address racial discrimination," said Mr. Phillips.
Mr. Phillips is also a member of the Board of Directors of the California Bar Foundation and of the California Committee of Human Rights Watch, and he served as President of the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles in 1992-93. He was the 1996 recipient of MALDEF's Legal Services Award and has received the ACLU of Southern California's Pro Bono Civil Rights Advocates Award, Voting Rights Award and Equal Justice Award.
Joining Munger, Tolles in 1979, Mr. Phillips became a partner in January 1984. His practice consists principally of complex civil litigation in the trial and appellate courts. His areas of practice include antitrust, intellectual property, general commercial litigation, constitutional law, civil rights, election law and other public law issues.
Mr. Phillips devotes a substantial portion of his time to representing clients on a pro bono basis. He has represented classes of homeless individuals, immigrants, prisoners, and voters, as well as numerous non-profit organizations. A few examples of Mr. Phillips's many pro bono successes include: obtaining an injunction against lethal injections in California; prosecuting a federal lawsuit that ended immigration officials' practice of forcibly administering anti-psychotic drugs to immigration detainees without a medical examination or a court order; defending the constitutionality of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002; obtaining an order in a voting right case that required California to replace its pre-scored punch card voting machines (of "hanging chad" fame); and obtaining reversals of the convictions of two individuals who had been sentenced to death in California.
Additionally, Mr. Phillips has conducted extensive legal and policy work in the areas of ethics in government, campaign finance and election law. He served from 1993-96 as the Chair of California Common Cause and for a dozen years as a member of the National Governing Board of Common Cause.
Mr. Phillips received his B.A. from Stanford University in 1975 and his J.D. from Yale Law School in 1978.
About the Lawyers' Committee
The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (LCCRUL), a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, was formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to involve the private bar in providing legal services to address racial discrimination. The principal mission of the Lawyers' Committee is to secure, through the rule of law, equal justice under law, particularly in the areas of fair housing and fair lending, community development, employment discrimination, voting, education and environmental justice. For more information about the LCCRUL, visit www.lawyerscommittee.org.
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