Julian McPhillips (Julian L. McPhillips, Jr.), a lawyer and 1978 Alabama attorney general candidate, was born November 13, 1946, and died April 12, 2025. McPhillips failed to win the Democratic nomination for Alabama’s U.S. Senate seat in 2002.
Julian McPhillips Obituary : His Biography and Legal Legacy
Julian McPhillips Early years
Julian McPhillips’s father, an Episcopal priest, died on February 13, 2001, and his mother, Eleanor Elizabeth (née Dixon), on December 1, 2002. His family relocated from Birmingham to Cullman following his birth.
Father served in the US Navy during WWII. Julian was an All-American at Princeton University, a two-time Eastern AAU heavyweight wrestling champion, and a 1972 Olympic Tryout finalist.
Julian McPhillips Politics and law career
Julian practiced law on Wall Street from 1971 until 1975. After returning to Alabama in 1975, he became assistant attorney general under Alabama Attorney General Bill Baxley, prosecuting white-collar offenses. He left in 1977 to run for attorney general and finished second out of nine unofficial candidates in 1978. After three days, the official vote count was revised, excluding him from the runoff. McPhillips went into private practice after losing.
McPhillips lost the Democratic primary in 2002 against Republican incumbent and first-term Alabama senator Jeff Sessions. He fared well in certain southern counties, but Susan Parker won the most votes, and Wayne Sowell supported her in the runoff. Parker lost the 2002 Alabama Senate campaign against Jeff Sessions. McPhillips opposed elective abortion.
Delegate to the 2008 Democratic National Convention; his brother, Birmingham lawyer Frank D. McPhillips, is a Democrat.
Honoring Julian McPhillips
In moments like these, we feel the loss deeply. Julian McPhillips left a lasting impact on many lives.
If you have any memories or thoughts to share, please feel free to leave a comment below. Let’s come together to remember and celebrate his life.
Julian L. McPhillips, an Alabama Career Attorney who fought for Civil Rights, Employee Rights and anti-White Collar crime ,has passed away at the age of 78 .
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