As Phillips Murrah celebrates 40 years of service, we’re highlighting the people whose work has helped shape the firm along the way. In this 40 for 40 profile, we spotlight Hilary Clifton and the perspective she brings to her role and to the firm’s culture.
As a kid, Hilary was drawn to only a few careers: writing novels, acting, and being a lawyer. That interest was shaped in part by watching the goofy lawyer shows of the 1990s and early 2000s, like Ally McBeal and Boston Legal. After earning her bachelor’s degree in English literature with a minor in history, it all clicked. Law school combined nearly everything she loved, including reading, writing, history, and a bit of theater and storytelling.
After her second year of law school, Hilary split her summer between Phillips Murrah and another firm. Both were strong, similarly sized, and staffed by talented people, but Phillips Murrah stood out for its visible commitment to mentorship. She knew she would work closely with partners from day one, with no sense that senior attorneys were walled off or too busy to work with her.
Early in her career, Hilary had two opportunities to appear before the Tenth Circuit. In the first, the firm was defending a summary judgment victory in a premises liability case. Although she was not handling the oral argument, Phillips Murrah happened to have two cases on the same oral argument docket, so the firm sponsored her trip to Denver to appear and participate. Shortly after, the pandemic hit, and she found herself handling her client’s portion of a multi-party case’s Tenth Circuit briefing and oral argument remotely. She has always appreciated the appellate experience those opportunities gave her as a young attorney.
The people have always been what Hilary values most about Phillips Murrah. The firm is full of brilliant professionals who can and do go toe-to-toe with the best and brightest attorneys from around the country, but its culture puts people first, and the attorneys genuinely enjoy working with one another.
Outside of work, Hilary’s family is her grounding force, even if that sounds a bit cliché. There is no denying this is a tough profession, but kids have a way of forcing the mental breaks that are needed, and they help keep everything in perspective. When Hilary started at Phillips Murrah, the firm was celebrating its 30th anniversary. While some change is inevitable and a few people have come and gone along the way, the firm’s beating heart has stayed remarkably the same. To her, that consistency is a sign of how strong the firm’s culture and collegiality truly are.
Follow our year-long anniversary celebration by visiting our 40th Anniversary page and connecting with us on social media using the links below. We look forward to sharing what’s next.
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