Carter G. Phillips Supreme Court and Appellate Advocacy Center Flourishes Under New Name and Director

When Carter G. Phillips (JD ’77) speaks of his time at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law—both as a student and an engaged alumnus— he highlights the profound influence of faculty mentors on his career. As one of the most successful Supreme Court and appellate lawyers in the country, he credits “mentors like Vic Rosenblum and Marty Redish when I was a student at the Law School…Their friendship and tutelage were fundamental to my professional success. Given what the Law School did for me, it is hard to give back enough to balance the ledger.”  Now, Mr. Phillips serves that same role to current students within the aptly named Carter G. Phillips Center for Supreme Court and Appellate Advocacy, both as Co-Director of the Carter G. Phillips/Sidley Austin LLP Supreme Court Clinic (one of two clinics that operate within the center) and through his generous financial contributions.

August 2025 marked the one-year anniversary of a transformative $5 million gift made from Phillips, Sue J. Henry (JD ’77), Jessica E. Phillips (JD ’06), the Sidley Austin Foundation, and more than 50 of his friends, family, and colleagues. The gift greatly expanded the Center’s programs, as well as the Center’s two clinics: the newly named Carter G. Phillips/Sidley Austin LLP Supreme Court Clinic, where students work under the direction of faculty members who have collectively argued nearly one hundred cases before the Supreme Court; and the Federal Appellate Clinic, in which students research, brief, and argue cases in federal appellate courts across the country. 

The gift has already had an enormous impact, according to new Center Director Danielle Hamilton, Clinical Assistant Professor of Law: “It has enabled us to accommodate more students, take on more cases, visit our clients—many of whom are incarcerated and haven’t had a visitor in years — and host more events at the Law School and beyond. It’s a gift that will continue to give for many years to come.”

The gift’s anniversary also coincided with a new beginning for the Center, as Hamilton started her tenure as permanent Director, after two years in the role of interim director. Hamilton leads the Center, operated in partnership with attorneys from Sidley Austin LLP, in serving the Northwestern Pritzker Law community and general public through three primary avenues: two year-long clinical courses; a moot program; and a variety of research, policy, and other events for the Northwestern Pritzker Law community. “Students in my clinics learn to identify and analyze legal and procedural issues and errors made by a lower court, and craft persuasive arguments in writing and in court to a panel of appellate judges, with the hope of persuading them to overturn or modify the lower court decision,” said Hamilton.

Appellate law can be intimidating to students and clients alike, says Hamilton, and is often viewed as “prestigious and typically practiced by lawyers in the highest echelons of the profession.” Hamilton wants to dispel this myth for her students, especially those from backgrounds traditionally underrepresented in the practice of law, so that all of them develop the skills and confidence to become appellate lawyers.

“My goals for my students this and every year is that they develop legal and analytical skills before imposter syndrome can set in,” she said. “I want them to feel supported in a classroom environment where they can feel free to ask questions, big or small, and see themselves as constitutional law experts, excellent oral advocates, and successful lawyers in whatever careers they choose.”

Hamilton began to practice appellate law because she viewed it as the area of the legal system in which she can have the most impact for her clients, particularly those who cannot otherwise afford an attorney. “The appeals process is even more intimidating and byzantine than the trial court,” she said, “and I want to help as many people as possible to either have their case reinstated if they lost or to protect their favorable judgment if they won…so my clients can truly have their day in court.”

She has extensive experience representing clients before joining Northwestern Pritzker Law as a partner at Loevy & Loevy, a plaintiff’s civil rights law firm, where she represented clients in a wide range of cases including wrongful convictions, excessive force, sexual assault by law enforcement, and protestors of police brutality. Prior to that she was a law clerk to the Honorable Barrington D. Parker, Jr. on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Hamilton’s work was recently honored at the American Constitution Society’s (ACS) Chicago Lawyer Chapter’s annual Legal Legends Luncheon, where she was presented with the 2025 Ruth Goldman Award. The award recognizes Chicago-area women who have made significant contributions to advance the status of women and the goals of ACS, and past awardees include fellow Northwestern Pritzker Law faculty members Shobha Mahadev and Alexa Van Brunt. “I’m beyond grateful to receive the Ruth Goldman award for advancing the status of women and the goals of ACS,” Hamilton said. “I tend to operate behind the scenes, so being publicly recognized means so much to me. I also come from a long line of ambitious women — especially my late grandmother and late mother — and I’m thrilled to accept this award on their behalf as well.”

Like the Center’s namesake, Carter G. Phillips, Hamilton is passionate about appellate advocacy and is committed to mentoring students in the spirit of those who mentored her. Passing on advice from her college mentor, she tells her students; “don’t be afraid to ask for help. Asking for help is a sign of strength, not weakness. And so many people would help if they only knew you needed it. I wouldn’t be anywhere near where I am if I didn’t ask for that extra help with my math homework, that letter of recommendation, that phone call to help get my resume out of the pile.”

Her other major piece of advice is to “let the universe tell you no” and not let fear of rejection stop students from applying to schools, jobs, grants, or awards. “If it’s meant for you, you’ll get it, and if it’s not, you won’t. You never know what the universe has in store for you, so don’t take yourself out of the running by not going for it.”