Search PillsburyLaw.com
  • All
  • Lawyers
  • Capabilities
  • Insights

Tony Phillips

Partner
Washington, DC

Partner, Washington, DC

T: +1.202.663.8220
T: +1.202.663.8220

Areas of Focus

Tony Phillips is a seasoned litigator, trial lawyer and compliance advisor with over two decades of experience navigating high-stakes business disputes, regulatory challenges and internal investigations. As a partner in the Complex Litigation group, Tony focuses on governmental, in-house, and private practice to deliver exceptional results for clients across industries.

Tony has not only developed a track record of success in major contract and business disputes, but he also has successfully defended and provided counsel to clients in director and officer liability cases. His breadth of experience enables him to perform concise yet comprehensive investigations for clients without unnecessarily disrupting business goals, and to recommend meaningful yet reasonable compliance program changes to prevent future complications.

View More

Some of Tony’s litigation, compliance and white collar highlights include:

  • Complex Litigation
    • Representing a major real estate developer in disputes relating to a 13.8-acre urban renewal project in the Poppleton neighborhood of West Baltimore.
    • Secured a complete victory for a private equity client in a $26 million EPC arbitration dispute, winning on all claims and recovering 100% of legal fees.
    • Represented a Guantanamo detainee, achieving release at the district court level and arguing the case at the D.C. Circuit.
  • Regulatory and Compliance
    • Advises clients on major regulatory frameworks in the areas of white collar (including the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, False Claims Act, and others), AI (including Section 230, the Digital Services Act, UK Online Safety Bill, the Internet Tax Freedom Act, and EU AI Act), and others.
    • Designed and led Meta’s Integrity-by-Design legal team, helping to identify and mitigate online harms while enhancing digital trust and safety across Meta’s multiple platforms.
    • Designed M.D. Anderson’s first-ever Corporate Ethics and Compliance team, including implementing a novel fraud investigation process and revising the Code of Conduct.
    • Conducted compliance hotline investigations, whistleblower inquiries and regulatory responses for global clients.
  • White Collar Defense and Investigations
    • Representing a major health care services provider seeking to account for and recover a multimillion-dollar loss arising from EFT fraud.
    • Representing a small business embroiled in a fraud investigation targeting a government employee accused of steering contracts and self-dealing.
    • Investigated nationwide health care services fraud scheme; thereafter, helping to design and eventually train employees on remedial compliance programs.

Tony brings a multifaceted perspective to his complex litigation and compliance practice. His distinctive background also includes:

  • Anti-Corruption Investigations. As a trial attorney in the Public Integrity Section of the U.S. Department of Justice, Tony led high-profile corruption investigations and prosecutions, including a landmark three-week jury trial stemming from a historic police corruption investigation in Puerto Rico and receiving an F.B.I. Commendation from then-Director Robert Mueller for investigating and successfully prosecuting a multidefendant illegal gambling enterprise.
  • Tech Industry Experience. During his tenure at Meta (formerly Facebook), Tony rose to the position of director and associate general counsel – integrity, where he spearheaded efforts to mitigate integrity-related legal risks across one of the world’s largest tech platforms.
  • Corporate Compliance Leadership. As senior legal officer for corporate ethics and compliance at MD Anderson Cancer Center, Tony developed and directed a comprehensive ethics program for a workforce of over 30,000, demonstrating his ability to implement large-scale compliance initiatives.
  • Military Service. Tony’s legal career began as a JAG officer in the United States Air Force, where he litigated numerous courts-martial and earned a Defense Meritorious Service Medal for leading major crimes investigations across war-torn Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Representative Experience

  • Representing client defending against civil court claims brought under the Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act and related charges in the Southern District of New York and multiple state courts.
  • Representing Fortune 10 tech company in facial challenge to Maryland Digital Advertising Gross Revenues Tax as preempted by federal law and invalid as a violation of the Dormant Commerce Clause.
  • Representing client victimized by cyberattack and electronic funds transfer (EFT) fraud scheme, resulting in multimillion-dollar contract dispute with delinquent payor.

View More

  • Representing client involved in investigation by Office of Inspector General (OIG) and related grand jury subpoena.
  • As in-house counsel for a major technology corporation, led teams of lawyers, working to understand, calibrate and mitigate legal risks, focusing on online harms to users (e.g., fraud and deception, misinformation and terrorism) and litigation risk to the company.
  • Represented a power generation company in a $26 million engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) dispute, prevailing on all claims and defeating all disputed counter claims in a fully litigated panel arbitration.
  • Regularly leveraged prior experience as a DOJ prosecutor, defense attorney and military JAG to guide clients in compliance program design, litigation strategy and regulator response matters.
  • Represented a genetic testing company in a seven-figure employment and contract dispute.
  • Represented a commercial real estate developer in a seven-figure construction dispute.

Professional Highlights

  • Named to 2021 National Black Lawyers “Top 100.”
  • Named to 2020 Lawdragon “500 Leading Lawyers.”
  • Named to 2019 Lawyers of Color “Nation’s Best” list.

View More

  • Awarded National Eagle Scout Association’s “NESA Outstanding Eagle Scout” award in October 2021.
  • Awarded the Defense Meritorious Service Medal for leading major crimes investigations in Iraq while deployed to Baghdad during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
  • Publications
    • “Will Generative AI Create a Break in the Impenetrable Wall That Is Section 230?” JD Supra, June 19, 2023 (with Jaria Martin). Author.
    • “Effective Investigations: The Whole Is Greater than the Sum of Its Parts,” Compliance & Ethics Professional (CEP) Magazine, May 1, 2019 (with David Searle). Author.
    • “Knowing the Unknown: Avoiding the Threat of FCPA Successor Liability,” Westlaw Journal on White Collar Crime, September 4, 2015 (with Bill Lawler). Author.    

Education

  • J.D., Harvard Law School, 2004

    B.A., Michigan State University, James Madison College, 1999
    High Honors; Phi Beta Kappa

Admissions

  • District of Columbia

    New York

    Texas

Languages

  • Spanish

Tony's Insights

View More
View All