A member of the Office of the General Counsel since 1984, Phil represents the University on a wide range of issues, including employment, discrimination issues, faculty and student issues, employee benefit plans, patents and technology transfer and legislation/governmental relations. Prior to his service in the Office of the General Counsel, Phil had been in private law practice, had served as Hearing Examiner and Chief Hearing Examiner for the Missouri Commission on Human Rights and had served as Legal Counsel for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.
Phil received his B.A. in Political Science from Northeast Missouri State University (now Truman State University) in 1973 and his J.D. from the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law in 1976.