When Phillips & Associates was founded in 2011, its mission was clear: to give a voice to employees who had long been silenced, mistreated, and pushed out of their jobs without recourse. What began as a single office in Manhattan has since grown into one of the largest and most respected employment discrimination law firms in the region.
Today, with more than 38 attorneys and 55 professionals, Phillips & Associates is recognized as a powerhouse for workers’ rights—fighting cases of sexual harassment, discrimination, retaliation, and wrongful termination with unmatched tenacity.
Managing Partner Phillips explains, “Too many workers live in fear. They’re worried about being branded a troublemaker, blacklisted in their industry, or left without references to secure future jobs. Our mission from the beginning was to change that power imbalance and give workers a place where they would finally be believed, protected, and compensated.”
A Mission Born Out of Injustice
The vision for Phillips & Associates grew out of firsthand observations of how employees were mistreated in the workplace. Workers facing harassment or discrimination often feel powerless against corporate giants with vast resources. By creating a firm dedicated solely to representing employees, Phillips sought to level the playing field.
From the very beginning, the firm made a bold commitment: to only represent employees, never corporations. This singular focus has allowed Phillips & Associates to build a reputation as an unwavering advocate for workers, ensuring that loyalty and priorities are never divided.
Growth Fueled by Purpose and Advocacy
From its Manhattan roots, the firm’s reputation quickly spread. Word of its results and empathy-driven approach led to expansion across New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Florida. With its growing footprint, the firm now offers workers across the East Coast access to big-firm infrastructure without sacrificing the personalized attention clients desperately need.
“People don’t want to trust the most important fight of their career to a four-person shop,” Phillips notes. “They want a true powerhouse firm that can stand toe-to-toe with the mega-firm their employer will hire. Phillips & Associates has become that firm.”
A Proven Track Record of Justice: $300 Million Secured
Over the years, Phillips & Associates has secured more than $300 million in settlements and verdicts for its clients. These victories span cases of race, gender, pregnancy, and disability discrimination, as well as sexual harassment and retaliation.
What makes this record remarkable isn’t just the numbers, it’s the philosophy behind them. The firm prioritizes three pillars in every case:
- Efficiency: resolving cases in months when possible, rather than dragging them out for years.
- Emotional protection: shielding clients from retraumatization by handling the direct conflict with employers and defense lawyers.
- Future security: negotiating not just financial recovery, but career-sustaining terms such as neutral references and non-disparagement clauses.
One example involved a woman pressured into a sexual relationship by her boss, only to face retaliation when she tried to end it. Phillips & Associates secured a significant financial settlement and ensured her professional reputation remained intact, protecting her ability to continue her career.
Recognition for Relentless Excellence
The firm’s commitment has not gone unnoticed. Phillips & Associates and its attorneys have earned accolades such as:
- “10 Best Employment & Labor Law Firm”
- Super Lawyers distinctions
- Membership in the Million Dollar Advocates Forum
These awards are more than symbols of prestige. They serve as constant reminders of the firm’s high standard of advocacy.
“For us, success isn’t measured only in dollars recovered,” Phillips emphasizes. “It’s also about how clients feel after working with us—validated, respected, and restored.”
Trends Defining the Workplace
Phillips & Associates’ casework offers a front-row seat to emerging trends in workplace law. Among the most pressing are:
- Sexual Harassment: Persistent issues ranging from groping and unwanted advances to quid-pro-quo situations where raises or promotions are tied to sexual favors.
- Pregnancy Discrimination: Alarming increases in cases where women are denied accommodations, punished for maternity leave, or retaliated against after giving birth. Fathers requesting paternity leave are also facing backlash.
- Disability Discrimination: Employers terminating or sidelining employees who disclose medical conditions or request treatment accommodations.
- Race Discrimination: Ongoing racial harassment, slurs, exclusion, and denied opportunities for advancement.
Each trend reflects a common theme: workers feeling powerless against corporate strength. Phillips & Associates restores balance by ensuring those employees are heard, compensated, and protected.
One Unified Firm Across Four States
With offices in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Florida, Phillips & Associates operates as a single, cohesive firm. Centralized intake ensures no case slips through the cracks, while firmwide litigation strategies and databases provide consistency across all locations.
The firm has built a proprietary system that tracks thousands of cases, settlement outcomes, defense attorneys, and judges, giving it a unique advantage in anticipating strategies and benchmarking results.
“A client in Miami gets the same level of advocacy and process as a client in Manhattan,” Phillips says. “It’s big-firm infrastructure with small-firm empathy.”
Justice Without Barriers
Phillips & Associates operates on a no-fee-unless-you-win model. Consultations are free, and the firm advances all litigation costs, sometimes holding close to $1 million of its own funds in active client cases. This model ensures access to justice for everyone, from waitresses and delivery drivers to finance and law professionals.
Unlike firms that only take “high-value” cases, Phillips & Associates accepts cases regardless of financial thresholds, proving that no story is too small to deserve justice.
Thriving Under Pressure
Complex litigation against large corporations is routine for the firm. To ensure excellence, each client is supported by a team: a lead attorney, an associate, and a paralegal. This structure provides depth, resilience, and the ability to stay ahead of well-funded corporate defense teams.
Phillips recalls one powerful example: a paralegal pressured into a sexual relationship by her firm’s owner. Retaliated against when she refused, she turned to Phillips & Associates. The firm secured a significant financial recovery and neutral reference protections, ensuring she could continue her career without stigma.
Balancing Growth with Empathy
Despite becoming one of the largest employment discrimination firms in the region, Phillips & Associates has preserved a culture of empathy and client trust. Attorneys are trained to listen first, then fight, ensuring clients feel heard and supported before the legal battle begins.
Growth, in this case, hasn’t diluted compassion—it has amplified it, allowing the firm to deliver justice on a larger scale without losing sight of the human stories behind each case.
Shaping Tomorrow’s Workplace Through Employment Law
As workplaces evolve, Phillips & Associates identifies three critical forces shaping employment law:
- Disability Discrimination: Employers failing to accommodate workers with medical conditions.
- Retaliation: The most common weapon used against employees who speak up.
- Power Dynamics: Fear of blacklisting and silencing continues to deter reporting.
By educating employees about their rights and aggressively litigating violations, the firm is shaping a future where workplaces are safer, fairer, and more accountable.
Leadership Lessons for Future Advocates
Phillips’ leadership principles provide a blueprint for aspiring law firms:
- Pick a side and stay on it. Represent only employees or only employers—never both.
- Specialize and master your field. Focus creates credibility.
- Prepare relentlessly. Every case should be ready for trial.
- Prioritize empathy. Behind every lawsuit is a person with dignity to protect.
“Integrity, discipline, and preparation are everything,” Phillips affirms. “Clients are people first, and treating them with respect builds trust and loyalty that no amount of marketing can replace.”
Phillips & Associates’ story is one of unwavering commitment to justice. From securing over $300 million in verdicts and settlements to reshaping workplace norms across multiple states, the firm has proven that growth and empathy can coexist.
For employees facing harassment, discrimination, or retaliation, the firm provides more than legal representation—it offers validation, empowerment, and a path forward. For the legal industry, Phillips & Associates stands as a model of how integrity, focus, and relentless preparation can create not only a successful practice but also a lasting impact in the fight for workplace justice.
About Phillips & Associates
Founded in 2011, Phillips & Associates is one of the largest employment discrimination law firms in the region, with offices in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Florida. The firm exclusively represents employees in cases of sexual harassment, workplace discrimination, retaliation, and wrongful termination.
With a team of over 38 attorneys and 55 professionals, Phillips & Associates has secured more than $300 million in verdicts and settlements. Known for its no-fee-unless-you-win model, the firm combines big-firm resources with personalized, empathetic advocacy, ensuring justice is accessible to all workers.
Company Details
- Company Name: Phillips & Associates | Sexual Harassment Lawyers, Discrimination & Employment Lawyers
- Founding Year: November 2011
- Office Locations: New York City (Headquarters), Long Island, Westchester, Princeton (NJ), Philadelphia (PA), Miami (FL)
- Official Website: https://www.newyorkcitydiscriminationlawyer.com/
- Industry/ Sector: Sexual Harassment & Employment Discrimination
Leader’s Profile
- Name of the Featured Leader: William K. Phillips.
- Designation: Managing Partner
- Brief Background & Experience:
William K. Phillips provides legal help to employees who have been treated unfairly at work, especially those who were sexually harassed, discriminated against, or punished for speaking up. As a leading employment discrimination lawyer in New York, he and his firm stand up for workers against powerful bosses and corporations that most people feel they cannot challenge on their own.
Before founding Phillips & Associates, William built a career in investment banking and real estate. That background gave him a deep understanding of how corporations operate and how they protect themselves from liability. It also gave him the discipline and strategic mindset to design a law firm that could stand on equal footing with the largest defense firms and deliver results for employees.
Under his leadership, Phillips & Associates has grown into one of the largest plaintiff-side employment law firms in the tri-state area, recovering more than $300 million for victims of workplace harassment, discrimination, and retaliation.
Today, the firm is recognized not only for its size and resources but also for its compassion. For William, the mission has always been the same: to give workers who feel powerless the chance to be heard, protected, and made whole. As one of New York’s most trusted sexual harassment attorneys, he has built a practice that combines legal firepower with empathy, ensuring that every client leaves knowing their rights were defended and their dignity restored.
Company Highlights
- Key Services/Offerings: Representation of employees in cases involving sexual harassment, pregnancy and disability discrimination, retaliation, race and gender discrimination, and high-value wrongful termination claims.
- Major Achievements or Recognitions:
- $300+ Million Recovered for victims of sexual harassment, retaliation, and workplace discrimination. $33 M+ recovered in the first eight months of 2025-best year ever for victim recoveries
- 4,000+ Clients Represented since 2011
- Nearly 2,000 Cases Litigated — more than double the volume of many competitors
- 11 Super Lawyers Recognized Attorneys — more than any other sexual harassment and discrimination law firm in NY/NJ
- Routinely Handle High-Value Settlements — including cases resolving for $1 million to $5 million and above
- 600+ Verified Four/Five-Star Reviews — among the most of any employment law firm in the region
- Best New York Labor and Employment Lawyers by Best Lawyers of America
- Top 10 Best Labor & Employment Law Firm by Best of the Best Attorneys
- Top 10 Employment Law Firm by Attorney & Practice Magazine
- Lawyer of the Year, by American Institute of Legal Professionals