Philippa V. Ellis is an original partner of the firm. She has extensive trial experience as first chair, defending high stakes tort, product, commercial and insurance litigation. She leads the firm’s product liability team and has handled matters in federal and state courts, at the trial and appellate levels, and before administrative agencies.
One of her jury trials served to clarify the extent of the Georgia trial court’s discretion in determining whether the requisite standard has been met for scientific reliability and methodology challenges for an expert witness’s testing procedure. She is regional counsel for industrial equipment, mining equipment and automotive manufacturers, and is a member of the national trial team for a Fortune 500 corporation’s asbestos trials.
She credits her undergraduate business education degree as one of the most beneficial assets she takes into the courtroom as she is entrusted with teaching jurors complex concepts in an understandable manner. Philippa is the “go to” trusted adviser for corporations, business owners and individuals who find themselves embroiled in litigation and governmental investigations.
Philippa has been a frequent speaker on various product liability and trial strategy topics. She enjoys mentoring lawyers who wish to hone their skills as trial lawyers or as litigation strategists.
Her vast first chair jury trial expertise is shared with younger lawyers from across the nation when she serves as faculty for national trial academies. Philippa was selected as Director-Elect for the 2018 ABA-ABOTA Trial Academy, and Director for the 2019 ABA-ABOTA Trial Academy, held annually in Reno, Nevada.
She is a returning instructor for the annual Georgia Defense Lawyers Association’s Trial and Mediation Academy, and has served as instructor for the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA) Georgia Deposition Skills Program, in Atlanta, Georgia. Philippa also served on the faculty of IADC’s national trial academy, at Stanford University, in 2009.
Education:
- University of Oklahoma College of Law, J.D., 1988
- Oxford University Study Abroad Summer Program, Queens College, 1986
- Langston University B.S., 1985
Admissions:
- Oklahoma, 1988
- Georgia, 1993
- Illinois, 1998
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
- U.S. District Court, Northern and Middle Districts of Georgia
- U.S. District Court, Northern and Western Districts of Oklahoma
- Georgia Supreme Court
- Georgia Court of Appeals
Professional or Trade Affiliations/Memberships:
- American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), Associate Member
- Product Liability Advisory Council (PLAC), Sustaining Member
- International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC)
- Defense Research Institute (DRI)
- Litigation Counsel of America, Senior Fellow
- International Society of Barristers
- Georgia Defense Lawyers Association
- Claims & Litigation Management Alliance
- National Bar Association (NBA), Commercial Law Section
- American Bar Association (ABA)
- State Bar of Georgia
- Lawyers Club of Atlanta, Inc.
- Gate City Bar Association
- Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys
- Atlanta Bar Association
- Leadership Institute for Women of Color Attorneys
- Old Warhorse Lawyers Club, Inc.
- Georgia Chamber of Commerce
Cost
Rate : $$$