Wikipedia

John Michael Phillips

John Michael Phillips (born February 4, 1975) is an American lawyer and a legal commentator.[1] He is licensed to practice law in Florida, New York, Georgia, Alabama, Texas, Oklahoma, Illinois and Washington, DC. Phillips has been lead counsel in numerous nationally reported cases. He represented U.S. Congresswoman Lucy McBath and Ron Davis after the Murder of Jordan Davis in Jacksonville, Florida.[2] He prevailed as lead counsel for Omarosa Manigault Newman in litigation filed against her by Donald Trump [3] As a result, the Campaign was assessed Phillips’s legal fees and costs, totaling over $1.3 Million and agreed to invalidate all of the Campaign's NDAs.[4]He was also lead counsel for Joseph Maldonado-Passage, also known as Joe Exotic, from the Netflix show Tiger King.[5]Phillips appears in four episodes of season two of Tiger King.[6]

John Michael Phillips
Phillips in 2016
Born (1975-02-04) February 4, 1975 (age 51)
Mobile, Alabama
EducationUniversity of Alabama, University of Alabama School of Law
Occupations
  • Attorney
  • news personality
  • speaker
  • publisher
Known forTiger King
Websitefloridajustice.com

Early life and education

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Phillips was born in Mobile, Alabama. He received a BA from the University of Alabama in Political Science and Criminal Justice in 1997 and JD from the University of Alabama School of Law in 2000.[7] He moved to Jacksonville, Florida in 2001.

Career

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Phillips started his career as a civil litigation defense attorney, defending companies like Coca-Cola, Hertz, and State Farm from injury claims. After nearly a decade of defense work, he worked alongside John Morgan and represented victims of traumatic injuries. [8] In 2011, he founded his own law office.

Phillips stopped George Zimmerman when he was trying to sell his client's copyrighted photograph of prosecutor Angela Corey as a painting.[9] Another notable case includes Gregory Hill v. Ft. Pierce Police Department, where a man was shot by police through his closed garage door. It resulted in a controversial $4 jury verdict.[10]

In 2012, Phillips was hired by Ron Davis and U.S. Congresswoman Lucy McBath after the shooting of Jordan Davis by Michael Dunn.[11]

Tiger King Litigation

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Phillips was hired in July 2020 to represent Don Lewis’s daughters along with his former assistant Anne McQueen. He filed a lawsuit against Carole Baskin and others in early August seeking to obtain more information about the disappearance of Don Lewis and amended it to assert an action for defamation on behalf of Anne McQueen, which is pending.[12] Phillips and his firm were later contacted and retained by Joe Exotic.[13]

Donald Trump vs. Omarosa Manigault Newman

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On August 18, 2018, it was announced that Phillips and his firm were representing Omarosa Manigault Newman in both arbitration and litigation arising out of her employment with Donald Trump.[14][15]

Phillips defeated Trump and his Campaign's efforts to enforce a nondisclosure agreement against Newman, the former White House aide and a star on “The Apprentice” who wrote a tell-all book about serving in his administration.[16] In the decision by the American Arbitration Association dated September 24, 2021, the Arbitrator granted Respondent’s Summary Judgment Motion declaring the Agreement invalid under New York contract law.[17]

Howard S. Schneider pediatric abuse cases

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Phillips handled the case of Jacksonville pediatric dentist Howard S. Schneider. Howard Schneider was charged in a scheme to defraud Medicaid, but the allegations against him also included abuse and performing unnecessary dentistry on children, telling parents that he needed to work on one tooth and extracting several.[18] He was interviewed on Nancy Grace,[19] Nightline,[20] Crime Watch Daily,[21] and others about the case.

Record verdict on behalf of Kalil McCoy

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On January 15, 2019, Phillips and his firm received a jury verdict of $495,123,680.00, the largest known jury verdict in northeast Florida and one of the largest wrongful death verdicts in the country. Kalil McCoy, of Jacksonville, Florida, was shot in the head by Frederick Lee Wade, 19, while they rode in a car with four other friends, after an argument about opening a window. McCoy’s friends then dumped her body in a wooded area and lied about what happened.[22]

Estate of Christopher “YNW Juvy” Thomas, Jr. versus Jamell "YNW Melly" Demons

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Christopher Thomas Jr., and Anthony Williams were shot and killed Oct. 26, 2018, in South Florida according to the Miramar Police Department. The men were last seen leaving in a car with Jamell Demons, aka YNW Melly, and Cortlen Henry, aka YNW Bortlen.[23] Miramar police said an investigation concluded that Demons shot and killed Williams and Thomas. Phillips filed a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of the family of Christopher Thomas, Jr., on Oct. 30 2020.[24] As a result of accepting this case, Phillips states he has been the victim of death threats and harassment.[24]

Political life and civic career

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In 2015, Phillips was nominated by the Mayor of Jacksonville to the City's Human Rights Commission.[25][26] On November 14, 2017, he resigned from the Commission in order to relieve any perceived conflict before filing multiple civil rights lawsuits against the City of Jacksonville.[27][28]

Personal life

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Phillips currently resides in Jacksonville, Florida. He has three sons. He is the owner of the over 40 year-old news publication Folio Weekly.[29][30]

References

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  1. ↑ Erin Jensen. "Don Lewis' family lawyer says ad during Carole Baskin's 'DWTS' debut sparked 'legitimate tips'", USA Today, September 2020.
  2. ↑ Joy Anne Reid. "For Jordan Davis’ parents, a bond with Trayvon’s family, and prayers for a different trial outcome" The Grio, July 2013.
  3. ↑ Matt Soergel. "Jacksonville attorney in middle of Trump-Omarosa feud", Florida Times Union, August 2018.
  4. ↑ Josh Gerstein. "Trump campaign is ordered to pay $1.3 million for Omarosa legal fees", Politico, April 2022.
  5. ↑ Carianne Luter"John Phillips is representing ‘Tiger King’ star Joe Exotic", WJXT, March 2021.
  6. ↑ "Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness — Season 2 episodes". IMDb. Retrieved 2026-04-30.
  7. ↑ Marilyn Young. "Lawyer snapshot: John Phillips", Jacksonville Daily Record, March 2014.
  8. ↑ Phillips, John Michael (2025-10-06). "High Profile Attorney - John Phillips". Grit.org (Interview). Interviewed by Brian Harbin. Retrieved 2026-04-30.
  9. ↑ Jeff Weiner. "Attorney: George Zimmerman stole photographer's work to make painting", Orlando Sentinel, January 2014.
  10. ↑ Eliott C. McLaughlin. "'Black lives don't matter,' lawyer says after jury awards $4 in police killing, "CNN," June 2018.
  11. ↑ Larry Hannan. "Michael Dunn/Jordan Davis trial problematic at every step", Florida Times-Union, January 2014.
  12. ↑ Christopher Spata. "Family of Tiger King’s Don Lewis files lawsuit against Carole Baskin and others", Tampa Bay Times, August 2020.
  13. ↑ Lee Brown. "‘Tiger King’ Joe Exotic hires new legal team to file for fresh trial", New York Post, March 2021.
  14. ↑ Matt Soergel. "Jacksonville Attorney John Phillips Representing Omarosa", Florida Times-Union, August 2018.
  15. ↑ Kent Justice. "Jacksonville attorney in middle of Trump-Omarosa feud", WJCT, August 2018.
  16. ↑ Maggie Haberman. "Trump Loses Case to Enforce Omarosa Manigault Newman’s N.D.A.", The New York Times, September 2021.
  17. ↑ Colin Kalmbacher. "‘It’s Over’: Omarosa’s Attorney Celebrates as Trump NDA Ruled Unenforceable, Paving the Way for More Secrets to Be Spilled", Law & Crime, September 2021.
  18. ↑ First Coast News. "Embattled former dentist judged incompetent to stand trial in Medicaid fraud case, February 2017.
  19. ↑ Nancy Grace. "Disturbing video: Dentist torturing young patient?", HLN, May 2015.
  20. ↑ Harry Phillips. "Dentist Accused of Harming Child Patients While Making Millions of Dollars", ABC News, September 2016.
  21. ↑ Ana Garcia. "Pediatric Dentist Accused of Mistreating Young Patients", Crime Watch Daily, January 2016.
  22. ↑ Stephen Sorace. "Murder victim's family awarded nearly $500M in wrongful death case", "Fox News," January 2019.
  23. ↑ Dacia Johnson. "Florida rapper YNW Melly murder charges: The full story", "TC Palm" March 2019.
  24. 1 2 Shawn Setaro. "YNW Melly Sued For Millions By Families of Murdered YNW Members", "The Complex" November 2020.
  25. ↑ City of Jacksonville Website
  26. ↑ David Bauerlein. "Mayor's review of Human Rights Commission member finds he can act fairly in that role", Florida Times-Union, July 2016.
  27. ↑ Anne Schindler. "Jacksonville police brutality case settled four years after video captured handcuffed woman's beating", First Coast News, July 2020.
  28. ↑ Stacey Readout. "Eureka Gardens children get free school supplies" Archived 2017-04-05 at the Wayback Machine, WJXT, August 2016.
  29. ↑ Nick Jones. "Prominent Jacksonville attorney buys Folio Weekly", WJXT, June 2020.
  30. ↑ Katie Garwood. "Lawyer John Phillips buys Folio Weekly", Jacksonville Daily Record, June 2020.
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