Brian Phillips

About Brian Phillips

Brian Phillips is a partner at Cohen Highley in London whose real estate work reaches every corner of the field, from family homes to commercial buildings and land set aside for development. Buying, selling, mortgaging and leasing are all part of it. Over the years Brian's clients have included builders and builder developers, some from London and some from elsewhere, as well as commercial landlords and their tenants. Corporate and commercial law and wills and estates round out the practice.

London has been home base for Brian's entire legal career. After being called to the Bar in 1979, Brian practised in the city and then came to Cohen Highley early in 2001 alongside Paul Steacy, a law partner of more than 23 years, joining the firm's team for corporate/commercial, real estate and estate work. Teaching has been part of the story too: Brian has lectured in the local Bar Admission course and spent a short stint as an adjunct professor at Western's law school, where the subject was real estate law.

Western is also where Brian's roots in the area began. Brian first came to London as a student, has lived in the region ever since, and now makes a home in Lambeth. A mathematics graduate who made the Dean's Honour Roll before turning to law, Brian has also given a good deal of time to the community: charities, nonprofits, service groups and Brian's church. That has included several years as a director and legal advisor to the London Home Builders' Association, and a seat on the Family Service Thames Valley board that ended with two years as President and Board Chair.

Plenty of Brian's work reaches the public too. Brian has written guides for first-time home buyers and for Ontarians drafting a will, and has answered questions in the firm's On Air segments about flipping a new home before closing, sellers whose buyers waive every condition, and the records executors need.