Wednesday, July 03, 2019
Yale Law '90: Fred Phillips IV
I am devoting Wednesdays on the blog to profiling some of my Yale Law classmates. Everyone knows about Brett Kavanaugh, but there are so many other people who are fascinating and accomplished!
Fred P. Phillips IV ’90 from Yale Law School on Vimeo.
Yeah, I remember Fred Phillips from law school. He breezed in from Cornell with an additional degree from Oxford, and was smart, kind, thoughtful, and capable of surprising you. His life has followed a path made possible by those qualities-- like some of the others I have profiled, he chose a zig at the start of his career, then a zag towards innovation. I suppose that is part of what we were taught at YLS: to be confident and willing to take risks.
As he describes in the video above, Fred clerked for the Chief Judge of the 9th Circuit, and then went to work for the Civil Appellate division of the Department of Justice (where some of our classmates still work). But then he zigged.
First he took a Fulbright fellowship in the Philippines. After that, instead of just flying home over the Pacific like a normal person, he headed across central Asia-- a trip that began with "buying seven camels" to travel across the high deserts, then selling them and continuing on by bicycle through the Himalayas into Pakistan. Geez, Fred! My life story will probably never include camel-buying.
After that, he worked for a firm, where he was unhappy. So then he zagged international finance, and set up new companies that have done well.
I really admire three things about Fred's career. First, he obviously was intentional in heading in the direction he did, quite literally. He followed his own path, not the one neatly laid out. Second, he clearly is a creator in the business sector, something that is just as important as other types of creators (and some would argue more important). Finally, the guy seems happy, doesn't he? Doing well and and doing good... it's a great combination.
Fred P. Phillips IV ’90 from Yale Law School on Vimeo.
Yeah, I remember Fred Phillips from law school. He breezed in from Cornell with an additional degree from Oxford, and was smart, kind, thoughtful, and capable of surprising you. His life has followed a path made possible by those qualities-- like some of the others I have profiled, he chose a zig at the start of his career, then a zag towards innovation. I suppose that is part of what we were taught at YLS: to be confident and willing to take risks.
As he describes in the video above, Fred clerked for the Chief Judge of the 9th Circuit, and then went to work for the Civil Appellate division of the Department of Justice (where some of our classmates still work). But then he zigged.
First he took a Fulbright fellowship in the Philippines. After that, instead of just flying home over the Pacific like a normal person, he headed across central Asia-- a trip that began with "buying seven camels" to travel across the high deserts, then selling them and continuing on by bicycle through the Himalayas into Pakistan. Geez, Fred! My life story will probably never include camel-buying.
After that, he worked for a firm, where he was unhappy. So then he zagged international finance, and set up new companies that have done well.
I really admire three things about Fred's career. First, he obviously was intentional in heading in the direction he did, quite literally. He followed his own path, not the one neatly laid out. Second, he clearly is a creator in the business sector, something that is just as important as other types of creators (and some would argue more important). Finally, the guy seems happy, doesn't he? Doing well and and doing good... it's a great combination.
