The POWER List: Philip L. Willman

Brown & James, St. Louis

Phil Willman has defended health care providers and medical device manufacturers in more than 100 trials. In 2019 alone, he tried eight cases to verdict and won six of them, a record during his 40-year legal career.

The victories included a case in St. Louis County in which two physicians were found not liable after a patient developed a rare infection and lost an eye, as well as another case in St. Louis County in which a jury ruled against an Illinois woman who suffered partial blindness after the defendant referred her to another physician.

In a case in Madison County, Illinois, a jury sided with the defense on claims that a woman died of a blood clot days after suffering a twisted ankle.

Willman is a longtime member and the immediate past president of DRI-The Voice of the Defense Bar, the world’s largest defense bar organization. He also is a board member of the National Foundation for Judicial Excellence and a director for Lawyers for Civil Justice.

Willman is a frequent presenter for the defense bar on topics ranging from trial tactics to medical professional liability. He earned his law degree in 1978 from Vanderbilt University.