Earl Phillips has practiced environmental law and worked on related utilities projects for more than 27 years. He has chaired the firm's Environmental and Utilities Practice Group since 1987. Comprising more than 25 professionals (lawyers, environmental and utility analysts, and environmental managers), the group is one of the largest among private law firms in the northeastern United States.

He is a member of the American College of Environmental Lawyers, an invitation-only professional association whose members are recognized by their peers as preeminent in the field. He is chairman of the Environmental Section of the U.S. Law Firm Group, past chairman of the Environmental Section of the National Institute of Municipal Law Officers, and a member of the Connecticut Council on Environmental Quality. He served on the Executive Steering Committee of the Environmental Policies Council of the Connecticut Business & Industry Association for more than five years. Mr. Phillips is listed in the top tier of environmental lawyers in Connecticut in Chambers USA - Guide to the Leading Lawyers for Business. Mr. Phillips has also been listed in The Best Lawyers in America® in the area of Environmental Law for more than a decade (Copyright 2010 by Woodward/White, Inc., Aiken, SC). He has been consistently ranked as a Top Lawyer in Corporate Counsel magazine. Mr. Phillips is also listed in The International Who's Who of Environment Lawyers 2009 and The International Who's Who of Business Lawyers 2010 (environment chapter) by Who's Who Legal. Mr. Phillips has been named to the New England Super Lawyers® list in the area of Environmental Law since 2007 (Super Lawyers is a registered trademark of Key Professional Media, Inc.).

Mr. Phillips represents foreign and domestic interests in various matters. His practice includes environmental compliance counseling and risk management, project and utility (energy and water) permitting, environmental defense, siting, crisis management preparation and response, environmental defense and liability allocation, cost recovery, environmental risk allocation in the context of transactions, and brownfield development. He represents various heavy manufacturing clients and significant pharmaceutical, chemical, petroleum, waste, explosives, and munitions companies, as well as municipalities and utilities. He is widely published and has lectured to diverse business and legal audiences throughout the United States and abroad. He has taught courses in environmental, water, and land use law at Wesleyan University, the University of Connecticut, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Mr. Phillips graduated from Wesleyan University with a B.A., cum laude, having majored in earth and environmental science. He earned his J.D. from The Catholic University of America.