PRACTICE AREAS

Alternative Dispute Resolution

Business Litigation

Phillip Garrison, formerly of the Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District, joined the Firm after nearly 15 years as a judge on the appellate court in Missouri. His current focus is on business and civil litigation.

Mr. Garrison is highly regarded in the legal community. During his service on the Court of Appeals, he authored approximately 800 opinions, served four years as a presiding judge on one of the court’s two divisions and served as the court’s chief judge in 1998 and 1999.

In 1990, Mr. Garrision was selected to become a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers (The College), joining less than one percent of the practicing bar in the nation. The College recently appointed Mr. Garrison to a 12-member task force to work with the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System, based at the University of Denver, to review the rules of discovery nationwide and other factors that may limit access to the justice system and then to recommend ways to make the process of discovery in civil cases more expeditious and less expensive.

The Springfield native earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1964 from Drury College in Springfield and his law degree in 1966 from the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law. Mr. Garrison served as prosecuting attorney of Christian County from 1971 to 1972, and engaged in the private practice of law in Ozark, Missouri, and Springfield from 1966 through 1992. He has written numerous chapters concerning discovery and particularly civil litigation for desk books for Missouri lawyers and judges. He also has taught numerous presentations for bar and non-legal groups about civil litigation.

DISTINCTIONS

Mr. Garrison was selected for inclusion in Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers 2008 for Business Litigation

COMMUNITY AND BAR INVOLVEMENT

Mr. Garrison is a Regent of the American College of Trial Lawyers (Representative for the College concerning its activities in Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, Saskatchewan and Manitoba).

EDUCATION

J.D., University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law, 1966

B.A., Drury University, 1964

BAR ADMISSIONS

Missouri, 1966