Steven Phillips focuses his practice on the representation of corporations, associations, and foreign governments before Congress, the administration, and federal agencies with a concentration on trade, tax, communications, defense, homeland security, insurance, banking, environment, and energy. He also advises clients on congressional strategies, the legislative process, and the regulatory process.

Prior to joining DLA Piper, Mr. Phillips served as legislative director and counsel to Senator Jesse Helms, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. During his 10 years in Congress, Mr. Phillips developed and implemented the senator's legislative strategy and managed his legislative staff. He served as the senior policy advisor to the senator on a broad range of issues, including trade, tax, communications, banking, health care, energy, environment, and product liability reform. Mr. Phillips' responsibilities included drafting legislation and speeches, in addition to providing advice on Senate floor strategy.

Prior to working in the Senate, Mr. Phillips served as a law clerk for a mid-size French law firm and as a law clerk to a firm in Raleigh, North Carolina. He is fluent in French and has traveled extensively in Europe and Asia.

Significant Accomplishments

• Advised a Defense contractor on a multi-million dollar Army program and helped company maintain Congressional support and funding for the program during several competitive phases
• Secured language in Defense bills authorizing a multi-year authority for a US$1.2 Billion Army program, which was essential to start funding for the program
• Developed strategy to secure hundreds of Millions of dollars in increased funding in Defense bills for a Army Truck program, in face of challenges from competitors to prevent such funding
• Worked with a large Defense company to resurrect a Billion dollar defense weapons system, which had been initially cancelled by the Defense Department. The effort involved drafting legislative language and advocating before all Congressional Defense committees
• Advised company on Military privatization program and secured support for program from the key Congressional committees
• Advised several companies on the new loan guarantee and renewable energy provisions in the recently enacted economic stimulus bill
• Developed successful strategy to help a European government retain a key US military base in the territory; strategy included working closely with DoD and Congress on developing Private Public Partnership concepts
• Helped companies protect important tax provisions from being adversely affected by Congressional efforts to revise key tax deductions
• Developed and implemented a strategy to secure passage of the SAFETY Act that provides liability protection for anti-terrorism products and services
• Advised several clients regarding export control policy and legislative proposals, as well as how to comply with trade sanctions laws
• Attend the WTO trade talks in Singapore and the GATT negotiations in Geneva; worked with negotiators on issues such as high-tech tariffs, textiles and anti-dumping
• Developed strategy to help an insurance company defeat a legislative proposal that would have blocked enforcement of a multimillion-dollar judgment
• Organization of successful Senate efforts to stop revision to patent law that would have resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue and adversely affected pharmaceutical research
• Advice to clients regarding communications policy and helped an industry coalition implement a strategy to affect the standards for the next generation of wireless technology
• Organization of a bipartisan congressional coalition to revise the broadcast ownership rules
• Helped defense companies in their efforts to secure several billion dollars in appropriations for defense programs
• Assistance to a company in securing over $50 million in federal funding for an environmental cleanup of valuable property
• Organized and lead a Senate coalition that secured revisions to the Clean Air Act, saving North Carolina over US$250 million
• Leadership of successful congressional effort that secured US$1.8 billion in hurricane disaster relief for North Carolina and other states
• Worked on congressional strategy to secure passage of legislation and the Treaty to grant assession to NATO for Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic