Jonathan L.A. Phillips
Attorney. Litigator.
Jonathan is a litigator. He handles intellectual property disputes, internet law matters, and utility, energy, matters. And he has been doing it long enough to know that the strategy built on day one usually impacts how everything else plays out. After building up an intellectual property boutique firm, he has migrated that into practicing Brown, Hay & Stephens, LLP, Illinois’ oldest law firm.
He litigates in federal trial and appellate courts across the United States, before the USPTO, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, WIPO, the Illinois Commerce Commission, and arbitration panels including AAA, JAMS, and FINRA. He appears in Illinois state courts at every level. If a dispute touches IP, technology, or energy, he has probably been in that room.
He also helps clients build and protect what they own: patents, trademarks, copyrights, and the portfolios that hold them together.
He stays ahead of developing areas of law. The intersection of artificial intelligence and intellectual property, Schedule A enforcement against foreign e-commerce sellers, and other serial plaintiff matters. His practice is built around what is coming, not what was. His clients range from solo inventors and early-stage startups to established companies with tens or hundreds of million in revenue. Those clients range from technology providers, to e-commerce and retail, food and beverage, arts and entertainment, healthcare, and even other legal professionals.
Jonathan studied chemistry at Bradley University before earning his J.D. and a certificate in intellectual property law from DePaul University College of Law. He teaches Intellectual Property and the Entrepreneur at Bradley, because understanding how IP functions inside a business matters as much as knowing the doctrine.
He was a founding board member of Startup Peoria and stays active in Illinois' startup and entrepreneurial ecosystem. Outside the office, he travels when he can, is reliably outmaneuvered by his dog, and serves on the Board for Central Illinois Friends and the Springfield Cemetery Historical Preservation Board.