Phil George

Phil George is an attorney in Holland & Knight's Litigation and Dispute Resolution Practice. Mr. George concentrates his practice in matters involving business litigation, healthcare litigation, real estate/property litigation and litigation involving government-adjacent entities.

Mr. George has extensive experience at all stages of litigation in federal and state courts. He routinely defends companies in high-stakes litigation, including at trial, has first-chaired a trial and numerous depositions, has extensive oral argument experience, drafts complex motions and oversees discovery disputes. He also has a wealth of experience working on appeals, primarily in Georgia appellate courts and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, and has served as appellate counsel at trials for several cases.

Mr. George's representative matters include the following:

• successfully obtained a temporary restraining order and interlocutory injunction for a major hospital in a high-profile dispute with a healthcare insurer
• obtained dismissal of petition in a high-profile tax litigation case involving counts for declaratory judgment, injunctive relief and tax rebate in a suit seeking approximately $800 million in damages
• obtained a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction in district court for a risk management company in a breach of restrictive covenants case
• successfully obtained a judgment in the trial court and the Georgia Court of Appeals for a metropolitan transit authority in a suit that attacked the authority's ability to temporarily suspend certain services in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic
• defended a healthcare third-party administrator in breach of contract action brought by a major health insurance company
• obtained a favorable defense verdict for a large international bank in a four-week bench trial regarding Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities (RMBS)
• provided appellate representation for a trucking company in a case involving a catastrophic car crash, resulting in a full defense verdict
• obtained reversal in the Georgia Court of Appeals for a metropolitan transit authority in suit where plaintiff originally obtained $22 million in damages for injuries sustained
• obtained dismissal of petition seeking records from a private entity under the Georgia Open Records Act
• obtained reversal in Supreme Court of Georgia for an adverse summary judgment ruling relating to a contractual indemnification provision
• obtained interlocutory injunction in a taxpayer case against a governmental board
• successfully obtained attorneys' fees award against a city for violations of the Open Meetings Act
• provided appellate representation for a company in government contractor breach of contract case, resulting in a verdict for client
• provided appellate representation for a transportation company regarding the applicability of Georgia's self-insurance statutes
• provided appellate representation in a week-long jury trial involving an airplane crash, resulting in a full defense verdict
• obtained a favorable jury verdict for a large international bank in a week-long jury trial regarding an alleged breach of investment agreements
• provided a successful defense in a week-long pro bono trial in family court

Mr. George is actively involved in the Atlanta Bar Association, where he serves on the Publications Committee and is co-editor of the Litigation Section's quarterly publication, The Litigator.

Prior to joining Holland & Knight, Mr. George was an associate at a large international law firm in New York, where his practice focused on complex commercial litigation and banking litigation.

During law school, Mr. George served as a judicial intern for the Honorable Renee Marie Bumb of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. He also provided pro bono support for LawHelp New York, a nonprofit organization that assists clients access information regarding a variety of publicly available legal services.