Press Releases
ATLANTA – November 13, 2012 – The American Cancer Society Inc., the nation’s largest voluntary health organization, has named Timothy B. Phillips, ESQ, as its General Counsel and chief legal executive. Phillips will head the Society’s Office of Corporation Counsel, where he has served since 2005 as senior counsel and interim general counsel respectively. In his new role, Phillips will lead a nationwide team of legal and compliance professionals in assuring that the Society develops, implements, and maintains its business strategies and operations in accordance with all applicable laws governing public charities. Phillips will also provide strategic legal counsel to the Society’s board and program and operations leadership while balancing business goals with institutional risk to effectively and efficiently accomplish the Society’s life-saving mission.
“Tim Phillips is known in nonprofit and community circles as a trusted legal expert and advocate for service in the sector,” said John R. Seffrin, PhD, the Society’s chief executive officer. “As General Counsel, he brings with him the passion that is needed in the fight against cancer.”
Prior to joining the American Cancer Society, Phillips spent eight years as special tax counsel for Troutman Sanders LLP, a private practice in Atlanta, Georgia. In his role, Phillips’ specialized in providing expert legal counsel to the firm’s nonprofit business clients in the faith-based, healthcare, education and health science sectors.
Phillips currently serves as chair of the Association of Corporate Counsel’s nonprofit organizations committee. He is also past president of the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation; immediate past president of the Atlanta Bar Association’s Section of Taxation; and a member of the advisory boards of the Pro Bono Partnership of Atlanta and the Atlanta Legal Aid Society. In addition, Phillips serves as counsel to the Navy SEAL Foundation.
Phillips has received numerous honors for his community service, including most recently, the Corporate Counsel Award for Community Champion. He was also the 2007 recipient of the H. Sol Clark Award, the State Bar of Georgia’s highest honor for pro bono service.
Phillips received his bachelor’s degree from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1989 and served the country as a commissioned officer in the naval special warfare (SEAL) community. He earned his J.D. degree from the University of Virginia in 1997. He is a native of Washington, D.C. and lives in Marietta, Georgia with his wife Lissa and their sons Jacob and Miles.
About the American Cancer Society
The American Cancer Society combines an unyielding passion with nearly a century of experience to save lives and end cancer for good. As a global grassroots force of three million volunteers, we fight for every birthday threatened by every cancer in every community. We save lives by helping you stay well by preventing cancer or detecting it early, helping you get well by being there for you during and after a diagnosis, by finding cures through groundbreaking discovery and fighting back through public policy. As the nation’s largest non-governmental investor in cancer research, contributing more than $3.8 billion, we turn what we know about cancer into what we do. As a result, an estimated 13.7 million people in America who have had cancer and countless more who have avoided it will be celebrating birthdays this year. To learn more about us or to get help, call us anytime, day or night, at 1-800-227-2345 or visit cancer.org.
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FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: Busola Afolabi | American Cancer Society | 404-417-5894 | busola.afolabi@cancer.org