Premium Q&A with Jim Phillips
Less than two years ago, Fort Worth-based PMG hired Jim Phillips to create and build its legal department from scratch. His deal team now signs more than 200 media and real estate contracts a month. He negotiates and writes the company’s master services agreements, influencer agreements, insertion orders, construction contracts, leases, asset purchase agreements, joint venture agreements, licensing contracts, nondisclosure and confidentiality agreements and employment agreements for key personnel.
The Lawbook founder Mark Curriden discussed with Phillips his remarkable first years in-house at PMG International and what he looks for when hiring outside counsel.
To read Mark Curriden’s full feature profile of Jim Phillips Click Here.
Texas Lawbook: How did you choose outside counsel for your matters? What were the biggest factors?
Jim Phillips: Area of expertise and personality fit. Working primarily in AdTech and MarTech, there are a lot of outside counsel who say they know the space, but a much smaller handful that actually do. There are numerous hyper niche aspects of this industry, and getting firms who could really drill into those issues was extremely critical.
Texas Lawbook: What has been your best day working at PMG?
Jim Phillips: Any day where I’m really focusing on giving strategic advice that helps and assists in the long-term growth path of the company.
Texas Lawbook: How important is diversity in your selection of outside counsel?
Jim Phillips: Adding diversity is at the core of PMG’s values. From an external counsel perspective, we have focused on diversity of expertise in trying to establish our network. However, as we grow this network, increased diversity from a both racial and cultural POV will be increasingly important and is an area I would encourage all firms to increase focus.