William Phillips

Founder & Managing Partner | Phillips & Associates

William K. Phillips is the Founder and Managing Partner of Phillips & Associates, a Chambers-ranked employment law firm representing employees exclusively. During his tenure as Founder and Managing Partner, Phillips & Associates has grown into one of New York’s most substantial employee-side employment litigation firms while helping shape aspects of New York employment law through published decisions, federal jury verdicts, and appellate precedent interpreting the New York State Human Rights Law, the New York City Human Rights Law, and federal employment law.

Since founding Phillips & Associates in 2011, William has grown the firm to 38 attorneys and more than 50 employees. During his tenure, the firm has handled more than 9,500 employment matters, litigated approximately 2,000 employment cases, recovered more than $360 million for employees, and filed more than 2,500 EEOC charges. The firm’s growth has been driven by specialization, litigation, documented results, and a reputation for representing employees in career-impacting workplace disputes involving workplace authority, rather than expanding into unrelated practice areas.

William focuses exclusively on career-impacting employment disputes involving workplace power dynamics, sexual harassment, workplace relationship harassment, retaliation, employment discrimination, whistleblower retaliation, executive employment disputes, and other matters where workplace authority is central to the legal analysis.

Before entering the practice of law, William served as Vice President of Fieldstone Private Capital Group, a New York investment bank, where he advised clients on mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, valuation, and strategic transactions. That background continues to shape his approach to employment litigation, particularly in matters involving executives, finance professionals, deferred compensation, long-term economic damages, organizational decision-making, and complex settlement negotiations. That perspective continues to distinguish his practice, particularly in matters involving executives, financial institutions, law firms, healthcare systems, and other organizations where business judgment, internal decision-making, and financial exposure often influence both litigation strategy and resolution.

William founded Phillips & Associates around a simple philosophy: represent employees exclusively, litigate when necessary, and combine substantial litigation resources with partner-led representation. Every accepted matter is handled by a dedicated litigation team led or supervised by a partner or senior litigator who remains responsible throughout the case. Many of the firm’s partners have worked together for more than a decade, and the attorneys collectively bring more than 200 years of employment-law experience.

During William’s tenure as Founder and Managing Partner, Phillips & Associates has obtained significant confidential resolutions, federal jury verdicts, published decisions, and appellate precedent involving retaliation, discrimination, sexual harassment, workplace investigations, employer liability, and employee rights under Title VII, the New York State Human Rights Law, and the New York City Human Rights Law.

Among the firm’s notable decisions are Vasquez v. Empress Ambulance Service, in which the Second Circuit adopted the “cat’s paw” theory of retaliation and expanded potential employer liability; Roberts v. Genting New York, reviving WARN Act claims involving 177 employees; Pardovani v. Crown Building Maintenance, resulting in a $1.8 million federal jury verdict; and Faruque v. JPMorgan Chase, addressing the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act. The firm’s published decisions have been cited by courts and discussed by both plaintiff-side and management-side employment lawyers.

William has also overseen representation in numerous high-profile and confidential employment matters involving Fortune 500 companies, major financial institutions, national law firms, healthcare systems, entertainment companies, professional sports organizations, executives, founders, physicians, celebrities, and other public figures.

Leadership, Speaking & Thought Leadership

Beyond litigation, William has developed several national initiatives focused on advancing employee-side employment law, legal education, and workplace accountability.

He is the founder of the National Plaintiffs' Summit on Sexual Harassment and Employment Discrimination⁠, a national conference that brings together leading plaintiff-side employment lawyers, trial attorneys, mediators, investigators, mental health professionals, and legal technology experts to discuss litigation strategy, workplace power dynamics, retaliation, damages, digital evidence, trauma-informed advocacy, and developments in employment law. The Summit has attracted speakers and attendees from plaintiff firms throughout the United States and reflects William’s commitment to advancing the employee-side employment bar.

William also founded HarassmentHelp.org⁠, an educational platform providing practical guidance to employees navigating workplace harassment, discrimination, retaliation, workplace relationships, and abuse of authority before deciding whether to report misconduct or pursue legal action.

In addition, he is the creator and host of the Not in the (Company) Newsletter⁠ podcast, which explores workplace power dynamics, employment litigation, trauma-informed advocacy, Human Resources investigations, retaliation, and emerging employment-law issues through conversations with employment lawyers, mental health professionals, investigators, and other subject-matter experts.

William is a frequent speaker, author, and media commentator on employment law. His commentary, interviews, and articles have appeared in legal, business, and national publications including Forbes, Bloomberg Law, Reuters, Law360, HRD America, Law.com, USA Today, Lawyer Monthly, Authority Magazine, Business Fortune, Downtown Magazine, People, Newsweek, and Cheddar, discussing workplace sexual harassment, retaliation, workplace relationships, discrimination, whistleblower protections, and employment litigation.

Professional Recognition

Under William’s leadership, Phillips & Associates has earned recognition from many of the legal profession’s most respected ranking organizations, reflecting both the firm’s litigation record and its reputation among clients and peers.

The firm is ranked in the 2026 Chambers USA Guide for Labor & Employment: Mainly Plaintiffs (New York) and recognized by Best Law Firms® for Litigation – Labor & Employment.

William has been recognized by the Lawdragon 500 Leading Civil Rights & Plaintiff Employment Lawyers, The Best Lawyers in America®, the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, and the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum. In addition, numerous Phillips & Associates attorneys have been recognized by Best Lawyers® and Super Lawyers®, and in 2026 all ten Phillips & Associates partners were selected to the Lawdragon 500 Leading Civil Rights & Plaintiff Employment Lawyers, reflecting the firm’s depth of experience and national reputation in employee-side employment litigation.

William is a member of the National Employment Lawyers Association, the American Bar Association, the New York State Trial Lawyers Association, the New York County Lawyers Association, the Brooklyn Bar Association, and the Forbes Business Council.

Through Phillips & Associates, William continues to represent employees in high-stakes employment litigation while helping advance the profession through published decisions, legal education, national conferences, speaking engagements, media commentary, and leadership initiatives focused on workplace accountability and employee rights.