Professor David Phillips retired in June after 46 years teaching at Northeastern, 40 of them as a full-time faculty member. Professor Jeremy Paul offers his thoughts on his impact and legacy.

There are many things we will long treasure about our colleague David Phillips, who retired in June after 46 years teaching at Northeastern, 40 of them on our full-time faculty. Having served on the board of editors of the Columbia Law Review and as a law clerk on the Illinois Supreme Court, an associate at a top New York law firm, a Fulbright Scholar, a consultant to US government agencies focused on international development and a tenured professor at a prestigious law school, David brought a strong academic background and a set of exciting professional experiences to our ranks. David chose Northeastern because of our longstanding commitment to law in the public interest. He contributed mightily to our enterprise through erudite scholarship on particularly vexing topics in business and commercial law. His work included service as coreporter of a Boston Bar Association project to revise the Massachusetts Business Corporation Law. The revised statute was passed and signed into law in 2004.

But from my memories of David, the fondest of all is seeing him walking through the halls en route to class carrying more books than he could easily manage, just so he could be sure he’d be prepared for whatever arose. Taking on more than might fairly be expected of him exemplified David’s tireless commitment to students. He taught large technical classes in contracts and business subjects, showing all of us that, in the right hands, even commercial law can be fertile ground for promoting justice. A teacher and scholar with experience and influence across the globe, David has been a cherished mentor and colleague to generations of Northeastern students and faculty — and an author who followed his passions wherever they might lead. He is already deeply missed.

—Professor Jeremy Paul