Directory of Phillips & Cohen Attorneys
The Wall Street Journal and the National Law Journal have called John R. Phillips "the nation's premier whistleblower attorney."
The National Law Journal has included him in each of its "100 most influential lawyers in America" lists for the past decade. The lawyers on the list, the National Law Journal said, "have the power to shape public affairs, launch industries, shake things up and get things done.”
Mr. Phillips and his firm handle whistleblower cases involving federal tax fraud and tax underpayments as well as “qui tam” cases brought under the False Claims Act. In recognition of that expertise, Mr. Phillips and Phillips & Cohen partner Erika Kelton were among the experts on whistleblowers and tax fraud cases who were invited to participate in a Senate Finance Committee roundtable discussion about the federal tax whistleblower law shortly after it was enacted.
Mr. Phillips played a key role working closely with Congress to revise and strengthen the False Claims Act after his research showed the Civil War law held great potential for fighting fraud against the government. His practice has focused on whistleblowers and qui tam lawsuits ever since the amended False Claims Act went into effect in 1986.
A nationally recognized authority on whistleblower cases, Mr. Phillips has been a frequent speaker at conferences on the False Claims Act and qui tam lawsuits. He also has co-authored several articles about whistleblowers and the False Claims Act .
In recognition of Mr. Phillips' work with Congress to revitalize the False Claims Act and his success with qui tam lawsuits , the nonprofit group, Taxpayers Against Fraud, awarded him its first Lifetime Achievement Award. The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California also presented him with a Lifetime Achievement Award "for his remarkable work rooting out corporate corruption and his landmark agreements on behalf of the poor and the powerless."
Mr. Phillips has a long history of involvement in public interest law. He graduated in 1969 from the University of California School of Law (Boalt Hall), where he was an editor of the California Law Review. He then joined the Los Angles law firm of O'Melveny & Meyers as an associate.
In 1971, he co-founded the Center for Law in the Public Interest in Los Angeles, which focused on environmental, civil rights, corporate fraud and other issues. He served as its co-director for 17 years before starting his own firm in 1988. From 1988 to 1993, Mr. Phillips was an appointed member of the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference. In 1997, he was appointed by President Clinton to the President's Commission on White House Fellowships.
Mr. Phillips is the founder of Taxpayers Against Fraud (TAF), a nonprofit, public interest organization that promotes the use of the False Claims Act and its qui tam provisions to fight fraud against the government. He currently serves on TAF's board of directors.