Phillips, Hunt & Walker

About Phillips, Hunt & Walker · Jacksonville

Phillips, Hunt & Walker is a Jacksonville, Florida trial law firm founded in 2011 by John M. Phillips and headquartered at 660 Park Street in Riverside. The firm is led by three board-certified partners — John M. Phillips (Civil Trial), Matthew C. Hunt (Family Law), and William K. Walker (civil litigation) — and focuses on plaintiff-side personal injury, wrongful death, criminal defense, family law, civil rights, medical malpractice, and high-profile litigation. Its founder holds the largest known jury verdict in Northeast Florida history ($495,123,680, Kalil McCoy, 2019) and was named one of Forbes' Top 200 Lawyers in America in 2025.

Phillips, Hunt & Walker (also branded as the Law Offices of John M. Phillips and 'Florida Justice') was founded by John M. Phillips in May 2011 after he spent eight years on the corporate defense side representing Coca-Cola, Hertz, State Farm, GEICO and others. Convinced he could do more by switching sides permanently, Phillips opened his own plaintiff-side trial practice and has since built it into a nationally recognized personal injury, wrongful death, criminal defense and family law firm. He is Board Certified in Civil Trial Law by the Florida Bar (since 2013), was named one of Forbes' Top 200 Lawyers in America and Top 20 Lawyers in Florida in 2025, and is licensed in Florida, New York, Georgia, Alabama, Texas, Illinois, Oklahoma, and Washington, D.C., as well as before the U.S. Supreme Court. Robert Shapiro has publicly called him 'the best lawyer in America.' Family-law partner Matthew C. Hunt (B.C.S. in Marital & Family Law) joined Phillips after the two met at a Christmas fundraiser for Beaches Emergency Assistance Ministry (BEAM); Hunt was previously the senior named partner at his own firm and has been voted Best Divorce Lawyer in Jacksonville by Folio Weekly and named a multi-time SuperLawyer. Civil-litigation attorney William K. Walker, who has been licensed in Florida since 2010 and in Georgia since 2012, leads injury and wrongful death cases and previously worked at Edwards & Ragatz and Jacksonville Area Legal Aid. The firm also includes criminal-defense counsel Reid Hart and other attorneys and staff, and employs roughly 7 people in the Jacksonville office. The firm represents injured individuals and families — never insurance companies — on a contingency-fee basis with no copy costs, postage, in-house fees, or interest on litigation costs. Notable matters include the $495M Kalil McCoy gun-violence wrongful death verdict (2019), the Jordan Davis / 'Loud Music' civil representation (featured in the Emmy-winning documentary The Armor of Light), Omarosa Manigault Newman's successful challenge to the Trump campaign's NDA (with $1.3M in attorney's fees awarded), Tiger King / Joe Exotic, the YNW Melly civil cases, and the Howard Schneider pediatric dental abuse matter involving more than 130 child victims. The firm maintains offices in Jacksonville, Brunswick (GA), Alabama, Lakeland, Gainesville, and New York, and serves clients throughout Florida, Georgia and Alabama, as well as federal courts across the country.

In business

Founded May 2011 (over 25 years of courtroom experience per the firm / LinkedIn)

Owner

John M. Phillips (Founding Partner); partners Matthew C. Hunt and William K. Walker

Serves

Jacksonville and Northeast Florida; statewide Florida; Georgia (Brunswick office and (912) 444-4444 line); Alabama; New York (Flushing office); also admitted in Texas, Illinois, Oklahoma, Washington, D.C. and before the U.S. Supreme Court. Additional offices referenced in Lakeland and Gainesville, FL.

Rating

4.8 (84 Google reviews) per LegalRank; 5.0 (83 reviews) per AttorneysListed.com; 4.8 (90 reviews) per ReviewsOnMyWebsite