Longtime Montgomery attorney Julian McPhillips, 78, died April 12 after a prolonged illness, a family friend confirmed.
He was a senior partner, president and founding attorney of Montgomery-based McPhillips Shinbaum LLP. His firm credits his work over the decades as a civil rights attorney and trial lawyer with securing judgments against state officials for violating state or federal constitutions, opening up state employment to minorities and challenging police brutality.
McPhillips attended Princeton University for his undergraduate degree and attended Columbia University for his law degree, his friend Kenneth Mullinax said.
Julian McPhillips, of McPhillips Shinbaum Law Firm, speaks of the death of Alabama Department of Corrections inmate Larry Brown during a news conference in Montgomery, Ala., on Friday May 21, 2021.
“Whether or not you agreed with him or not, everyone agreed he had a kind heart,” Mullinax said.
McPhillips also founded the The Scott & Zelda Fitzgerald Museum.
He is survived by his wife Leslie and their three children. The family will have a private funeral and a public memorial in June, Mullinax said.
Julian McPhillips, of McPhillips Shinbaum Law Firm, speaks of the death of Alabama Department of Corrections inmate Larry Brown during a news conference in Montgomery, Ala., on Friday May 21, 2021.
Alex Gladden is the Montgomery Advertiser’s education reporter. She can be reached at agladden@gannett.com or on Twitter @gladlyalex.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Prominent Montgomery attorney Julian McPhillips dies at 78