Stanton E Phillips

Adoption is love. Adoption is about fulfilling your dream of raising a family. Adoption is about finding an appropriate home for a child.

Adoption is also a legal matter. While there may be an adoption agency involved in the placement, supervision or investigation, it is ultimately a decision for a court. For most of us, it is the most important legal proceeding we will be involved in our lifetimes. You want to minimize potential risks because what you really want is a family.

Stanton Phillips offers experience, knowledge and practical advice. He listens to your needs, advises you of your options and works with you to best achieve your goals. His legal practice is limited to building families through adoption and assisted reproductive technologies including surrogacy, gestational carriers and embryo adoptions.

Experience in adoptions for Stanton Phillips began in 1982 as a young litigator when an older attorney brought him into litigate a contested adoption. Now he has completed over 4,000 successful adoptions, helping families one at a time. These adoptions have come from just about every state and more than 70 countries.

Knowledge is built upon experience. Stanton Phillips has helped his clients through just about every imaginable situation and lots of situations that would be hard to imagine. He frequently teaches courses on adoption law as well as attends those presentations by his colleagues so he can follow the continuing changing landscape.

Stanton Phillips knows the adoption statutes because he has worked with the Virginia Legislature in drafting the laws. This included being the primary drafter of the major procedural rewrite in 2006 and participating in drafting the previous major rewrite in 1995. Additionally, Stanton Phillips drafted in 1999 the education statute with regards to foster children and children placed for adoption.

In the District of Columbia, Stanton Phillips was the first Chair of the D.C. Superior Court Adoption Committee consisting of Judges and lawyers that drafted the first comprehensive set of Adoption Rules. Under two D.C. mayors, he was the appointee as the attorney member of the Committee that regulates adoption agencies.

While adoption is a legal process, the route to a successful adoption involves many practical matters. Proper services need to be made available for a birth mother in order that she may adequately weigh her options. An adequate and positive support group should surround the birth mother to reassure her of her plan. We want to ensure that the birth mother is properly treated and that she has made an educated and meaningful decision that is best for both her and the baby.

Stanton Phillips has been recognized for his professional achievements in adoption as recipient of the 2006 Congressional Angel in Adoption Award. He has served as Chair of the Advisory Counsel for the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute and has organized a number of adoption programs in the U.S. Capitol. Four of his clients children have had their adoption finalized in the White House before the President and First Lady.

Stanton Phillips has co-authored or contributed to twenty books on adoption law including Adoption law in Virginia, District of Columbia Practice Manual, Adoption Law and Practice, Family Law and Practice and Legal Aspects of International Adoption.

Stanton Phillips understands your needs and believes in personal attention and a good bedside manner. He believes in handling cases quickly and timely. He knows you want to be able to go home as soon as possible with your new baby. His approach is to handle your work at the earliest opportune time so that when an emergency arises or a baby is born, he can handle the urgent matter without disrupting the routine matters. Stanton Phillips has the understanding and experience to handle your adoption while minimizing potential risks. Let Stanton Phillips help make your adoption successful and a wonderful experience.