Philip Thompson
Partner

Mr. Thompson is a partner in the firm, practicing primarily in the fields of complex business litigation, personal injury defense, appellate practice, and admiralty law in both state and federal courts.

Mr. Thompson has successfully represented or helped represent clients successfully in a wide variety of civil litigation in all levels of Georgia courts and in the Eleventh Circuit, including but not limited to breaches of written or oral contracts, premises liability torts, environmental torts, employment discrimination cases, maritime injuries, ship arrests, and car accident defense cases.

Mr. Thompson is an accomplished appellate practitioner, regularly briefing matters before Georgia’s state and federal appellate courts.  Mr. Thompson also assists other attorneys in their representations in a variety of subject matters, providing support in brief writing, research projects, and other collaborations.

Mr. Thompson takes pride in the professionalism with which he practices law and applies valuable experience he gained working with various levels of both the state and federal judiciary to his practice.  Before joining Ellis Painter, Mr. Thompson clerked for the Honorable B. Avant Edenfield, Senior District Judge for the United States District Court, Southern District of Georgia, who also sat by designation on the Eleventh Circuit during Mr. Thompson’s clerkship.  While in law school, Mr. Thompson held externships with Justice David E. Nahmias of the Georgia Supreme Court and Superior Court Judge Lawton Stephens of the Western Judicial Circuit.

A native of Savannah, Mr. Thompson received undergraduate degrees (magna cum laude) in History (with high honors) and Philosophy from the University of Georgia in 2008 and is a 2011 graduate (magna cum laude) of the University of Georgia School of Law, where he was selected to the Order of the Coif and served as the Senior Articles Editor of the Georgia Law Review.

Education

  • University of Georgia (B.A., magna cum laude with high honors from the Honors Program, History and Philosophy, 2008)
    • Phi Beta Kappa
  • University of Georgia School of Law (J.D., magna cum laude, 2011)
    • Order of the Coif (top 10% of graduating class)
    • Senior Articles Editor, Georgia Law Review Executive Board
    • Appellate Litigation Clinic
    • CALI Award Winner for Performance in Evidence

Memberships

  • State Bar of Georgia
  • Savannah Bar Association (Nominations Committee, 2019-2020)
  • Maritime Law Association of the United States
  • Southeastern Admiralty Law Institute (Port Director for the Port of Savannah, 2017-2019)
  • Savannah Bar Association, Young Lawyers Division (Past President)
  • Georgia Defense Lawyer’s Association (Vice Chair of the Amicus Curiae Committee)
  • Leadership Savannah Graduate (2018)
  • Propeller Club of the United States, Port of Savannah

Court Admissions

  • Georgia State and Superior Courts
  • Georgia Court of Appeals
  • Georgia Supreme Court
  • Southern District of Georgia
  • Northern District of Georgia
  • 11th Circuit Court of Appeals

Publications

Note, Sanctioning Hard Bargaining: A Critique of State Offer of Settlement Rules, 44 Ga. L. Rev. 1133 (2010)

Choosing Exculpation: Exculpatory Clauses and State Choice-of-Law Clauses in Maritime Contracts, 6 MALABU 5 (Winter 2015/2016)