Elliott is a well-regarded barrister who is regularly instructed by leading international firms (mainly out of London) in global commercial litigation with values in the hundreds of millions in which Gibraltar proceedings are issued or there is a strong Gibraltar nexus to the litigation. Elliott is regularly instructed to take out or respond to freezing injunctions in Gibraltar either by way interim application or those applied for in support of foreign proceedings. Elliott has considerable experience in the area of international trust and estate disputes and appears before the Chancery Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of Gibraltar on matters relating to the administration of trusts and in particular in relation to applications for directions brought by Trustees and beneficiaries alike. Elliott has recently been called upon to give expert evidence on question of Gibraltar Trust law before the Supreme Court in New York
Elliott’s practice also extends to insolvency and he regularly appears before the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal for Gibraltar.
Elliott is the appointed Counsel for the Secretary of State for Defence and Ministry of Defence in Gibraltar and he has acted in a wide range of complex issues involving HM Governments of the United Kingdom and Gibraltar.
Elliott's practice includes commercial litigation, trust disputes, civil fraud, insolvency , shareholder disputes, coronial law and claims made before Gibraltar equivalent of the Court of Protection
Elliott is the only barrister in recent times to have been instructed by Her Majesty’s Attorney in his capacity as Official Solicitor acting in cases brought by the Health Authority where directions are sought in relation to the withdraw of life sustaining treatment and he is therefore acutely aware of the complex interplay between medico-legal and ethical considerations.
Elliott is a proponent of pro-bono work and accepts a small number of instructions each year. In this regard Elliott recently acted for the family in the tragic case of a man who died whilst resident at Gibraltar’s Mental Hospital and where for the first time in Gibraltar’s legal history a verdict of unlawful killing was recorded by HM Coroner for Gibraltar. The matter went all the way to the Court of Appeal where the decision of the jury was upheld.
Elliott has been committee member of the General Council of the Bar in Gibraltar since 2004 and sits on the Court Service Users Committee and is also the Gibraltar Bar’s representative member of the Law Reports Committee established by the Chief Justice of Gibraltar. Elliott is also a member of the Firm’s Management Committee.
Chambers & Partners Global 2013 ranks Elliott in Band 2 and comments “Litigator Elliott Phillips is particularly well known for his expertise in complex trust disputes”. The Legal 500 EMEA 2013 also recommends him in the context of international trust disputes.
2010 Partner, ISOLAS
2007 Associate, ISOLAS
2002 Associate, Isola & Isola
2001 Called to the Bar of England and Wales and the Gibraltar Bar
• TGWU v Ministry of Defence and Secretary of State for Defence of the United Kingdom- where the Supreme Court of Gibraltar clarified the modern legal basis for asserting jurisdiction over the UK Government in Gibraltar.
• Inquest into the Death of Michael Celecia - judicial review of a verdict of unlawful killing by a jury in a Coroner’s Court.
• R v Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation, ex parte Progressive Democratic Party - urgent judicial review of the decision by Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation to exclude a leader of a political party from a leader’s debate on the eve of a general election.
• Secretary of State for Defence of the United Kingdom-v- McWilliams - question as to whether the Crown in right of the United Kingdom Government can be sued in Gibraltar in respect of actions in tort.
• R v The Stipendiary Magistrate for Gibraltar ex parte Klinkiewicz - question as to whether the obscene publication law in Gibraltar is wide enough to encompass electronic transmission of data.