Members

Phillip C. Hamilton is an experienced trial attorney and litigator in the areas of complex state and federal criminal defense, civil rights actions, Title IX Investigations, and contractual disputes. Phillip began his legal career at The Bronx Defenders, working within its world-renowned Criminal Defense Practice. While there, he successfully defended over 2,000 clients, and tried several cases to acquittal. As a supervisor, Phillip taught the art of criminal defense to a team of Ivy League-educated lawyers, and had his work featured in The New York Times, The Huffington Post, and BuzzFeed News. Since entering private practice, Phillip has primarily defended white-collar professionals, corporate executives, professional athletes, and celebrities, charged with serious, high-profile offenses. His successes include a full acquittal for a senior financial analyst charged with attempted murder, the full dismissal of criminal charges for the son of a very prominent New York City attorney, and a number of favorably negotiated pleas for international dignitaries hailing from Luxembourg, Turkey, and South Africa. In the post Me-Too era, Phillip has become known for passionately defending dozens of individuals - including both men, and women - who have been wrongly alleged to have committed acts of sexual misconduct. As an external Title IX Advisor for New York University, Phillip regularly represents college students upon allegations of serious sexual misconduct under the Code of Federal Regulations. Outside of the courtroom, Phillip is an Adjunct Professor of Law at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, and regularly guest lectures trial advocacy and negotiation seminars in law schools around the New York City metropolitan area. He proudly serves on the board of the Metropolitan Black Bar Association where he has screened and interviewed judicial candidates vying for election to the New York State Supreme Court, and has testified in support of systemic reform to the New York State Senate Standing Committee on the Judiciary. Phillip regularly appears as a legal analyst across cable platforms, including BBC World News, ABC World News, Fox News Channel, CourtTV, and the Law and Crime Network.

I knew I wanted to be a trial attorney when I saw Blair Underwood and Jimmy Smits on L.A. Law.  I have had over 30 jury trials working for the City of New York, an insurance defense firm and the Oregon Department of Justice.  Performing in front of a jury is one of the most satisfying experiences I’ve ever had—win or lose.  I think I am an actor at my core.  Odd because I am also a cinephile:  I love movies by Clint Eastwood, Akira Kurosawa, Antoine Fuqua and John Woo.  I sympathize with the tortured hero and the lost cause. I am a devout capitalist; hate bullies; root for the underdog; and believe in the system.  Reasons why I became the first Director of Civil Rights for the Oregon Attorney General.  Before moving to Oregon, I drafted judicial opinions as a Principal Law Clerk for a New York State Supreme Court Justice.  I started my legal career as a litigation associate at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, after graduating from law school.  I now have a general practice law firm, HARMON JOHNSON LLC, that focuses on discrimination, civil rights violations and wage theft. I also love teaching.  Several women in my family were teachers and professors.  This inspired me to be an adjunct professor, and a high school and college trial advocacy Coach.  I have also taught trial skills to attorneys from across the country as a National Attorney General Training and Research Institute faculty member.  I am a Libra.  And I love to cook, write and do home improvements in my spare time.  I have sworn off Starbucks, Waffle House, and Hobby Lobby to name a few.  I also refuse to watch anything NFL—games, highlights, updates, documentaries, etc.—until Colin Kaepernick gets at least a try-out.