Phillip has been an Associate Professor of Intellectual Property Law at UCD since September 2012. He is also the Chair of the Expert Advisory Group on Trade Marks and Designs at the UK Intellectual Property Office and a Research Leader on Trade Mark and Custom at the Intellectual Property Institute. He is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, the American Bar Association as well as the Intellectual Property Bar Association in England.
 
He studied law at the University of Durham before being called to the Bar of England and Wales, where he originally practised criminal law. Subsequently, he studied for an LL.M at Queen Mary, University of London and then for a Ph.D entitled Private International Law, Intellectual Property and the Internet. Whilst researching for his Ph.D he worked as a legal adviser to the UK Patent Office (now the Intellectual Property Office). In this role he worked on implementing a number of Directives and Treaties in the field of intellectual property, including the Patent Law Treaty, EPC 2000, the Information Society Directive, the Enforcement Directive and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty. He also worked on the modernisation of the designs and patents rules as well as numerous references to the Court of Justice.

Phillip has practised at the English intellectual property bar since 2007. In this capacity, he has advised well-known fashion brands, pharmaceutical and agriculture companies, broadcasters and publishers as well as national newspapers and celebrity magazines. He continues to practise at the English and Irish bar. In addition, he is a member of the Californian Bar.

He is an author of leading texts on patent law (The Modern Law of Patents), confidential information (Gurry on Breach of Confidence), internet issues (Gringras: The Laws of the Internet) and ambush marketing and sponsorship (Ambush Marketing and Brand Protection). He is also on the editorial board for the Journal of Intellectual Law and Practice and has acted as a referee for law journals from around the world as well as numerous University and for other presses.

He is a Visiting Professor at the Jersey Law Institute where he teaches Jersey Constitutional Law and he is an examiner for the Jersey Advocates exam. He is a Visiting Senior Fellow at Queen Mary, University of London. He is an examiner for the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys. He previously held visiting positions at the University of Cambridge and Strasbourg University.