CIVIL TRIAL ATTORNEY

Johnny Phillips is no stranger to Georgia. He is originally from the Metropolitan Atlanta Area. Johnny served in the Air Force for eight years as an Investigator and Security Forces officer. He attended his first year of law school at Mercer University and then went on to complete his Juris Doctor at Georgia State, where he graduated in the top five percent of his class. Johnny ensures his clients get the best possible resolution for their matters either without litigation, or with the filing of a lawsuit. From there, Johnny ensures his clients receive the best legal representation through an early settlement of their claims or through a trial and verdict of their cases.

After a couple of years of college, he enlisted in the United States Air Force. Johnny served in the Air Force for four years as a Security Forces officer, stationed at Hanscom Air Force Base, MA. He also served his country by deploying overseas to Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait in 2002. During his enlistment, he received numerous honors, such as; the Air Force Achievement Medal (2004), Airman of the Year for Hanscom Air Force Base (2003), graduated 1st in Military Police Investigator School (2003), and the Outstanding Unit with Valor Medal (2002). Following his enlistment, Johnny moved to Brunswick, Georgia and completed his Bachelor Degree at Armstrong Atlantic University in 2007. While completing this degree, he also served another four years in the Air National Guard and served his community as a Child Support Enforcement agent.

Throughout Johnny’s military and civilian careers, he has constantly been working with the courts as either a witness or an advocate for the less fortunate, so it only seemed appropriate to him to continue on to law school. He attended his first year of law school at Mercer University and then went on to complete his Juris Doctor at Georgia State, where he graduated in the top five percent of his class. During law school, Johnny participated in the Student Trial Lawyer Association and performed an externship with Judge John J. Goger, Superior Court, Fulton County. He also received the Cali award for Wills, Trusts and Estates, Bankruptcy, and Public Health Law. While attending law school, Johnny clerked for Attorney Earl Burke in Atlanta, Georgia and Savage, Turner, Krauter, Pinkney, Britt and Madison in Savannah. Upon graduating from law school, Johnny joined the team at the Law Offices of Shane Smith.

Johnny works as a Civil Trial Attorney. He becomes involved in his clients’ cases when negotiations break down, and he is forced to file a lawsuit to advance his clients’ interest. He is responsible for the lawsuit from the time that it is filed until a final resolution is made, either through reaching a settlement of claims or obtaining a jury verdict upon trial of the case. He is directly involved with drafting, filing, conducting discovery, negotiating with opposing counsel, presenting the clients’ position at mediation, selecting juries for trial, and trying cases before those juries in Court. While a case is in litigation, Johnny works to uncover facts that will ultimately help his clients prevail at trial or force opposing counsel to reevaluate the value they place on his clients’ claims. This is often achieved by conducting depositions of parties to the lawsuit, witnesses to the accident and experts. Johnny also serves as the voice of his clients in communications with opposing counsel and the Court.