Brian Reed Phillips

1951 - 2021

A group of long-time friends of Brian Phillips announces with sorrow that Brian passed away in Thailand in early September from complications of dementia.

 

Brian grew up in Seattle and attended Lakeside School and then Columbia University. After graduation, Brian served in the Peace Corps in Tunis where he taught Tunisians English as a second language. He subsequently attended the University of Washington School of Law. While in law school, Brian did original research that identified constitutional infirmities of a proposed initiative measure that sought to stop the Seattle school desegregation plan. The US Supreme Court saw the wisdom of Brian's work, and ruled the measure unconstitutional in 1982.

Brian was a loyal friend, and was always stimulating and enjoyable company. He had far-flung interests, read widely, and had strong opinions on most matters that he did not hesitate to share. He was a sailing enthusiast and for a time lived on his sailboat in Everett. He had a diverse practice of law, mostly criminal cases in Snohomish County. In 1989, he greatly enjoyed the opportunity to argue one of his cases, Washington v. Harper, in the US Supreme Court. In the mid-1990s, Brian's interest in justice and in seeing more of the world led him to serve in Belgrade to reform and strengthen the Yugoslav justice system on behalf of a US non-governmental organization associated with the American Bar Association. In 2003, via his Everett law practice, and drawing on his years of effective serivice as a member of the Edmonds School Board, Brian brought suit against a school board and an employee union that ended a long strike.

 

After long trips to Thailand in the first decade of the 2000s to visit a fellow UW alum who had moved to Bangkok, Brian chose to live abroad again, this time for good. He purchased a condo on the banks of the Chao Phraya River, and served on the condo's board. His work in Thailand included teaching law at the University in Bangkok. His younger brother Craig Phillips recalls that Brian loved his students and took a great deal of time and energy to incorporate American law with Thai law to come up with meaningful lesson plans. He enjoyed participating in community theater in Thailand, as he had in the US. His acting abroad included improv with expat groups, a spot in a commercial for Dos Equis beer and another in a rooftop scene in the movie "The Hangover Part II." He took on the challenge of learning the Thai language and eventually married a Thai businesswoman, Khun Siripan, who survives him.

 

Rest in peace, brother Brian. You are missed.

June 14, 1951 - September 10, 2021