Carlin Phillips

Carlin Phillips

Co-Founder and Partner
  • Phillips & Garcia, P.C.
  • 13 Ventura Drive, N. Dartmouth, MA 02747
  • 508-998-0800

Attorney Carlin J. Phillips is the co-founder of Phillips Garcia Law and has devoted his 27+ years of litigation experience to helping consumers and working people receive the economic justice they deserve. His boutique law firm focuses on consumer rights violations; consumer class actions; wage theft; sexual harassment; discrimination and civil rights violations and employee’s side employment law.

As a practicing trial attorney, Carlin has handled individual and class action cases in state courts and federal district courts across the United States. His firm's cases have been highlighted by numerous media outlets including the New York Times, the Boston Globe, Fox News, MSNBC, The Today Show, the New Bedford Standard Times and the Fall River Herald News.  Carlin appeared in an MSNBC’s “Countdown with Keith Olberman” segment for one his lawsuits against Bank of America.   

Mr. Phillips is also passionate about continuing to hone his skills as an attorney, and is one of a select few of Massachusetts attorneys to graduate from Gerry Spence’s Trial Lawyer’s College in Dubois, Wyoming, an elite school for training trial attorneys. 

His interest in helping families fight against insurance companies began shortly after Mr. Phillips graduated in 1992 from the New England School of Law in Boston with his Juris Doctor degree:

I grew up in a big family with seven kids. We did not have a lot of money. When I became a lawyer, I quickly realized that there were too many lawyers for insurance companies and Big Corporations and not enough lawyers fighting for the hard working people I knew and grew up with. I decided very early in my career to use my energy as a lawyer to give regular people and small business owners a voice by telling their stories in court.

Attorney Phillips is a life long resident of the SouthCoast, growing up in Somerset, working in Dartmouth at his law firm and now living in Tiverton with his wife and two children.

Education

  • Alumni, Gerry Spence’s Trial Lawyer’s College, Dubois, Wyoming, Fall 2000  
  • Juris Doctor, New England Law (formerly New England School of Law), Boston, Massachusetts, May 1992
  • Bachelor of Arts (Biology), Assumption College, Worcester, Massachusetts, May 1987

Bar and Pro Hac Vice Admissions

  • Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Supreme Judicial Court, December 18, 1992
  • U.S. Federal District Court, District of Massachusetts, March 19, 1993
  • United States Court of Appeals, First Circuit, December 2, 2013
  • U.S. Federal District Court, Western District of Michigan, May 17, 2010
  • U.S. Federal District Court, District of Rhode Island (via pro hac vice admission)
  • U.S. Federal District Court, Central District of California (via pro hac vice admission)
  • U.S. Federal District Court, District of Minnesota, Fifth Division (via pro hac vice admission)
  • U.S. Federal District Court, Northern District of Illinois (via pro hac vice admission)
  • U.S. Federal District Court, District of Arizona (via pro hac vice admission)
  • U.S. Federal District Court, Middle District of Florida, Fort Meyers Division (via pro hac vice admission)
  • U.S. Federal District Court, Southern District of Florida (via pro hac vice admission)
  • U.S. Federal District Court, Western District of Missouri (via pro hac vice admission)
  • U.S. Federal District Court, Northern District of Indiana (via pro hac vice admission)
  • Superior Court, State of Illinois, Cook County (via pro hac vice admission)
  • Superior Court, State of Georgia, Fulton County (via pro hac vice admission)
  • Superior Court, State of Rhode Island, Newport County (via pro hac vice admission)
  • Superior Court, State of New Jersey (via pro hac vice admission)
  • Circuit Court of Faulkner County, Arkansas (via pro hac vice admission)

Arguments Before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court

  • Pelletier v. Town of Somerset, 458 Mass. 504 (Mass. 2010)
  • Duarte v. Comm’r of Revenue, 451 Mass. 399 (Mass. 2008)

List of Court Decisions

  • McDonald v. City of Bos., No. 15-11915-JGD, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 160928 (D. Mass. Sept. 20, 2018)
  • McDonald v. City of Bos., No. 15-11915-JGD, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 153248 (D. Mass. Nov. 12, 2015)
  • Mello v. Town of Dighton, C.A. BRCV2010-1097C, Bristol Cty. Sup. Ct. (MA 2015)
  • Martino v. American Airlines Federal Credit Union, C.A. 14-10310-DPW (D. Mass. August 18, 2015)
  • A&W Maint., Inc. v. First Mercury Ins. Co., 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 32777 (D. Mass. Mar. 17, 2015)
  • Jackson v. Bank of N.Y., 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 107939 (N.D. Ill. Aug. 6, 2014)
  • Ash v. Bank of Am. N.A., 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10457 (E.D. Cal. Jan. 27, 2014)
  • Gordon v. Bank of N.Y. Mellon Corp., 964 F. Supp. 2d 937 (N.D. Ind. 2013)
  • Ash v. Bank of Am. Corp., 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 148433 (E.D. Cal. Oct. 11, 2013)
  • Goldman v. Bank of Am., N.A., 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 94666 (D. Mass. July 8, 2013)
  • Warren Envtl., Inc. v. Fishback, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 42623 (D. Mass. Mar. 26, 2013)
  • Jackson v. Bank of N.Y., 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 89258 (N.D. Ill. June 28, 2012)
  • Hays v. CitiMortgage, Inc., 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 53867 (D. Minn. Mar. 29, 2012)
  • Jacobini v. JP Morgan Chase, N.A., 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9384 (M.D. Fla. Jan. 26, 2012)
  • Jacobini v. JP Morgan Chase, N.A., 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 154799 (M.D. Fla. Aug. 1, 2011)
  • Pelletier v. Town of Somerset, 458 Mass. 504 (Mass. 2010)
  • In re Webkinz Antitrust Litig., 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 111810 (N.D. Cal. Oct. 20, 2010)
  • Snee v. Sunrise Props., 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 130745 (S.D. Fla. Mar. 20, 2009)
  • Duarte v. Comm'r of Revenue, 451 Mass. 399 (Mass. 2008)
  • Cent. Mut. Ins. Co. v. Boston Tel., Inc., 486 F. Supp. 2d 180 (D. Mass. 2007)
  • Advance PCS, et al v. Bauer, 280 Ga. 639 (2006) cert. denied U.S. Supreme Court (Bauer v. Advance PCS, 127 S.Ct. 671 (2006)
  • Advance PCS v. Bauer, 280 Ga. 639 (Ga. 2006)
  • Waters v. Earthlink, Inc., 2006 Mass. Super. LEXIS 310 (Mass. Super. Ct. 2006)
  • Waters v. Earthlink, Inc., 2006 Mass. Super. LEXIS 674 (Mass. Super. Ct. 2006)
  • Waters v. Earthlink, Inc., 91 Fed. Appx. 697 (1st Cir. Mass. 2003)
  • Deterra v. Am. W. Airlines, 226 F. Supp. 2d 298 (D. Mass. 2002)
  • New Eng. Physical Therapy Network, P.C. v. Healthcare Value Mgmt., 2002 Mass. Super. LEXIS 267 (Mass. Super. Ct. 2002)
  • Southeast Physical Therapy Servs. v. Healthcare Value Mgmt., 2000 Mass. Super. LEXIS 188 (Mass. Super. Ct. 2000)
  • Morse v. Bankers Life & Cas. Co., 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2211 (N.D. Ill. Feb. 23, 2000)
  • Kopach v. First USA Bank, C.A. No. 98 C 8238 (N.D. Ill. 2000)
  • Swift v. First USA Bank, 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16192 (N.D. Ill. Sept. 30, 1999)
  • Mitzan v. Medview Servs., 1999 Mass. Super. LEXIS 279 (Mass. Super. Ct. 1999)
  • Swift v. First USA Bank, 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8208 (N.D. Ill. May 20, 1999)

Law Firm and Attorney Phillips’ Media Appearances and Highlights

ABC 6 News, WLNE-TV (Providence), New Bedford Man Claims He Was Cheated Out of $4 Mill. Lottery Ticket (1/24/2020)

7 News Boston, WHDH, “Scooped Out from Under Him”: New Bedford Grandfather Believes He Was Swindled Out of $4 Million Lottery Winnings (1/22/2020)

CBS Boston, WBZ 4, Parishioners, Church Battle Over Historic Bells (11/22/2017)

MSNBC, Today, “Trashing Out: Are Banks Clearing Homes Without Telling Owners?” January 5, 2011. Phillips Garcia Law client and Attorney Andrew Garcia appear on the Today Show to discuss bank’s removal of personal property from California home.

MSNBC, Countdown with Keith Olberman, “Banking on Chaos,” Dec. 22, 2010. Carlin Phillips appeared on a live TV news story about Bank of America’s removal and disposal of personal property from the California home of one of Phillips & Garcia’s clients.

FOXNews, Fox & Friends, Morning Show Newscast “Trashing Out: Mimi Ash v. Bank of America,” December 23, 2010.

FOXNews, Happening Now, “Banks Send Real Estate Repo Men to Home Not in Foreclosure,” December 23, 2010. News story with client and attorney Carlin Phillips discussing bank’s seizure of the clients home and disposal of all personal possessions.

NBC 12 News, PhoenixEvening News Feature Story “Homeowners Sue Bank of America.” News story with clients and attorney Carlin Phillips regarding wrongful foreclosure lawsuit filed against Bank of America in Tucscon, Arizona.

WOOD-TV, NBC8, Michigan, “Michigan Couple Sues for Illegal Lock-Out by Deutsche Bank,” April 25, 2010. News story with clients and attorney Carlin Phillips regarding Deutsche Bank’s lock-out and trash-out of homeowner who bought the property for cash from Deutsche Bank at auction.

WCVB-TV Boston, ABC5, “Couple: ‘Bank Foreclosed on Wrong House,’” January 22, 2010. New story with clients and attorney Carlin Phillips regarding Bank of America’s foreclosure seizure and trash-out of the wrong home in Florida.

The Huffington Post, HuffPost Live, “Property Inspectors Cross the Line” and “The Even Shadier Side of Foreclosures,” April 5, 2013. In a two-part program, Carlin Phillips participates in a discussion about the foreclosure inspection crisis and the banks’ practice of seizing abandoned properties, often breaking into occupied homes by mistake.

  • Part I: http://jobs.aol.com/videos/job-search/solving-the-foreclosure-inspection-crisis/517735398/
  • Part II: http://jobs.aol.com/videos/job-search/the-even-shadier-side-of-foreclosures/517735210/

National & Local Print Media Coverage

Cases handled by Carlin Phillips and Andrew Garcia have been discussed or featured in Trial Magazine and on the front page of the New York Times, Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, the Fall River Herald News, the New Bedford Standard Times and the Somerset Spectator as well as many other periodicals and journals.

  • Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, “Trail Nix,” May 4, 2015.
  • Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, “Truck-Related Fall Covered by Policy,” April 6, 2015.
  • Banker & Tradesman, “Panelist: Banks Have Themselves to Blame for Real Estate Finance Chaos,” (October 14, 2011)
  • HuffPost Business, “Retired Floridian Returns Home to Find His Home Foreclosed Upon, By Mistake,” June 26, 2011.
  • Petersburg Times“Tampa Retiree Says He Lost Belongings in Foreclosure Blunder”, June 25, 2011.
  • Trial Magazine, Foreclosure Fallout, April 2011
  • The New York Times, “California Widow Sues Bank of America for Wrongfully Entering Home and Disposing of Husband’s Ashes,” December 22, 2010.
  • ABA Journal“Suit Claims Bank took Cremated Remains in Wrongful Foreclosures,” December 22, 2010. (http://www.abajournal.com/mobile/article/ suit_claims_bank_took_cremated_remains_in_wrongful_foreclosure)
  • SouthCoast Today, “Supreme Court Hears Pelletier Case,” September 15, 2010. (http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100915/PUB05/9150377)
  • The Detroit Free Press, “Foreclosures Go Wrong as Lenders, Cleanup Crews Cut Legal Corners,” June 7, 2010. (http://www.freep.com/article/20100607/NEWS05/ 6070369 /1318/Foreclosures-go-wrong-as-legal-corners-are-cut)
  • ABC News, “Family’s Recently Purchased Home Emptied by Property Removal Service,” April 29, 2010. (http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/Business/familys-recently-purchased-home-emptied-property-removal-service/story?id=10508853)
  • Petersburg Times, “Bank of America Forecloses on House that Couple Had Paid Cash For,” February 21, 2010.
  • Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly“Largest Verdicts & Settlements of 2007.” January 28, 2008.
  • The Boston Business Journal, “Bertucci’s Faces Class Action Over Credit Cards Receipts,” June 18, 2007 (http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2007/06/18/story9.html? page=all)
  • Somerset Spectator, “Town Liable for Sexual Harassment,” March 28, 2007.
  • The Herald News“Town to Pay Out $2.8M,” March 27, 2007.
  • The National Law Journal, “No Longer Banished to a Boiler Room,” January 26, 2004.
  • The Boston Law Tribune, “Lawyers File ADA Suit Targeting Bristol County Courthouses,” November 5, 2001.

More Newspaper Articles and References

“Three Keith Neighbors Sue City,” The Standard Times (November 22, 2008)

“Freetown Business Suing Webkinz Maker,” The Herald News (July 29, 2008)

“Worried Sick,” The Standard Times, (April 22, 2007)

“$1.8 Million for Sexual Harassment,” Providence Journal (March 27, 2007)

“Area Law Firm Appointed as Class Action Counsel,” The Herald News (January 2005)

“Lawsuit Widens Access to Disabled,” The Standard Times (January 14, 2004)

“State Agrees to Make Courthouses Accessible,” The Providence Journal (January 13, 2004)

“Ruling: Courts Must Be Accessible,” The Herald News (January 13, 2004)

“Court Lawsuit Settled,” Taunton Daily Gazette (January 13, 2004)

“Wellfleet Lawsuit Against Earthlink Goes Federal,” CapeEconomy, Vol. 3, No. 1 (Winter 2002)

“Disabled Lawyer Sue Over Access,” The Standard Times (October 10, 2001)

“Access Suit Seen As Boon,” The Standard Times (October 11, 2001)

“Suit Seeks Court Access,” The Herald News (October 11, 2001)

“Lawsuit Seeks Courthouse Accessibility” The Herald News (October 12, 2001)

“Lawyers File ADA Suit Targeting Bristol County Courthouses,” The Boston Law Tribune (November 5, 2001)

“Florida Cancer Patient’s Suit Highlights Prescription Drug Battle,” Law.com (June 28, 2001)

“Rochester Woman Joins Class Action Suit,” The Standard Times (May 16, 2001)

“Drug Firm Accused of Cheating Patients Who Use Generic Cancer Drug,” South Florida Sun-Sentinel (April 26, 2001)

“Breast Cancer Class Action Suit Settled,” The Chronicle (February 14, 2001)

“Companies Settle Class Action Suit,” The Standard Times (January 25, 2001)

“Attorneys Allege Local Patients Overcharged,” The Chronicle (June 14, 2000)

“Local Law Firm Champions Consumers’ Rights,” The Herald News (Mar. 20, 1998)

“GE Settles Debtors’ Lawsuit,” The Herald News, (August 8, 1998)

Insurance/Managed Care

“Get Payors to Repay Improper Discounts Taken Through Silent PPOs,” Managed Care Contracting and Reimbursement Advisor (May 2001)

“Tamoxifen Alert: Lawyers File Lawsuit Against PCS for Overcharging Co-pays for Breast Cancer Drug Tamoxifen,” Florida Breast Cancer Coalition Newsletter (October 2000)

“Abusive Overcharges for Breast Cancer Drug Tamoxifen,” The Link (Fall 2000)

“Lawsuit Reveals Co-Payment Scam,” Hospital News (May 2000)

“PT’s Challenge ‘Silent PPO’ Arrangement in Court,” Eli’s Rehab Report (December 21, 1999)

“Provider Can Sue Insurers for Using ‘Silent PPO,’” Managed Care Contract Negotiator (Oct. 1999)

“Attempts to Dismiss Class Action Silent PPO Suit Denied,” Hospital News (September 1999)

“‘Silent PPO’ Lawsuit is Allowed,” Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly (July 5, 1999)

Phillips, C. “Disability Claims Denied by Some Insurance Companies,” Hospital News (July/Aug. 1999)

Teaching/Instruction:

American Bar Association (ABA), General Practice, Solo and Small Firm Division 2007 to 2012

Trial Instructor/Coach

Annual trial instructor at ABA MCLE event for small firm and solo practitioners where instructors and participants recreate historical trials. Instructed seminar attendees on all aspects of presenting a trial, from opening statement to direct and cross examination to closing argument.

  • August 2007, San Francisco, CA: Terror in San Francisco: The 1916 Preparedness Day Bombing Trial
  • August 2008, New York, NY: Murder at Madison Square Garden: The High-Tech Trial of Millionaire Harry Shaw For Shooting Architect Stanford White
  • August 2009, Chicago, IL: Insanity Trial of Mrs. Abraham Lincoln
  • August 2010, San Francisco, CA: Brainwashing or Bank Robbery: The Retrial of Patty Hearst
  • August 2011, Montreal, Canada: Louis Riel Treason Trial: Traitor, Patriot or Insane?
  • August 2012, Chicago, Illinois: Tokyo Rose: The Treason Trial of Iva Toguri D’Aquino

Books, Guides & Teleconferences:

Carlin J. Phillips, The Ultimate Provider’s Guide to Silent PPOs: How You Can Maximize Reimbursement from Insurance Companies and Protect Your Practice’s Bottom Line (Pennsylvania: Word Association Press, 2010). Description: A comprehensive book about “silent” discounting, a scheme employed by health care insurers that has been estimated to be over a billion-dollar loss revenue problem for medical providers all across the nation.

Carlin J. Phillips and Andrew J. Garcia, Massachusetts Auto Insurance: The 5 Biggest Mistakes Massachusetts Consumers Make When Buying Car Insurance (Pennsylvania: Word Association Press, 2009). Description: A comprehensive book about Massachusetts auto insurance and auto accident cases with explanations to help consumers make the best auto insurance choices to protect themselves and their families.

Carlin J. Phillips and Andrew J. Garcia, Teleconference Presenters, How to Bring a Class Action Without Breaking the Bank, CLE Teleconference for National Business Institute, June 26, 2014.

Carlin J. Phillips and Andrew J. Garcia, The Original Pocket Legal Guide to Massachusetts Automobile Accidents Law, Injuries and Claims.

Carlin J. Phillips and Andrew J. Garcia, BITTEN: Your Rights When a Dog Bites (Massachusetts: Phillips|Garcia Law, 2112). Description: A comprehensive guide to Massachusetts dog bite law, injuries and claims.

Carlin J. Phillips, Andrew J. Garcia and Joseph F. deMello, Foreclosure Lock-outs and Trash-Outs: A Free Guide to Your Consumer Rights (Massachusetts: Phillips|Garcia Law, 2010). Description: With the historic increase of foreclosures nationally, banks have been wrongfully seizing homes at an alarming rate. This guide was written to educate victimized consumers about their legal rights against such abusive practices.

Carlin J. Phillips, Andrew J. Garcia and Joseph F. deMello, Wrongful Foreclosures and Home Seizures: 5 Steps You Can Take to Stop a Wrongful Home Foreclosure or Seizure (Massachusetts: Phillips|Garcia Law, 2010).

Carlin J. Phillips and Andrew J. Garcia, Do I Have A Massachusetts Class Action Case? The Ultimate Hands-on Guide to Wage and Hour and Consumer Class Action Cases in Massachusetts (Massachusetts: Phillips|Garcia Law, 2009). Drawing on over a decade of experience handling consumer class action cases across the country, this book was written to help educate consumers about how class action cases really work.