William H. "Billy" Murphy Jr. is a lawyer and former judge in Baltimore, Maryland, now working as a law firm boss Murphy, Falcon, Murphy. An African-American, Murphy is specifically associated with advocacy for civil rights; he has also been prominent in local politics for decades.
Video William "Billy" Murphy Jr.
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Murphy was born in Baltimore's Cherry Hill neighborhood to William H. Murphy Sr., one of the first African-American judges to serve in Baltimore district court, and activist Madeline Wheeler Murphy. In 1965, he completed the B.S. in electrical engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, before proceeding to law school at the University of Maryland, where he became a member of the law review and obtained his doctorate in 1969.
Maps William "Billy" Murphy Jr.
Legal and political career
Since the beginning of his career, Murphy has been very active as an advocate in cases relating to civil rights. In his first successful case, he defended First Amendment rights from a controversial Black Panther Party newspaper. Murphy obtained a certain public position as a criminal defense attorney, in which his role attracted public attention to the history of injustice against African-Americans.
In 1980, Murphy was elected to the Baltimore Circuit Court (the highest level court in Maryland), where he served as a judge for two and a half years. He resigned in 1983 to pursue a major challenge that failed to incumbent Baltimore mayor William Donald Schaefer. In his campaign, he spoke of "another Baltimore" which, he says, has been ignored by those focusing on improving the city's public image, leaving it without investment resources that can help solve its long-term problems.
Murphy then returned to legal practice. In 1986, he partnered with the old collaborator Richard Falcon to find the company now known as Murphy, Falcon & Murphy, where he continues to serve as a senior partner. Here the practice focuses on civil litigation, including several high-profile cases representing Fortune 500 companies. In 1994, The Baltimore Sun described Murphy as having a "reputation to encourage client advocacy to its legal limits" in a article in which Murphy explains his role as preventing "rules from bent over unpopular people." Murphy's work has earned numerous awards, including recognition as the "Top Lawyer in Maryland" by Baltimore Magazine Super Lawyers for 2009 and 2010 and a list of the American Trial Lawyers Association of "Top 100 Trial Lawyers in the US" in the year 2011. In 2004, Baltimore University presented Murphy with his first Charles Hamilton Houston Award for Lifetime Achievement in Litigation.
Murphy appeared as himself in the 2008 HBO episode The Wire .
Freddie Gray case
In 2015, he served as a lawyer for the family of Freddie Gray, who died in a meeting with the Baltimore police. Murphy has long been critical of the way law enforcement practices can unfairly harm African Americans. Even in 1999, Murphy denounced "no tolerance" as an approach to policing and advocating the need for police officers to record "audio recording recorders" as a means of increasing courtesy and making officers "less likely to swear falsely." Defense Counsel Murphy from Murphy, Falcon & amp; Murphy rejects belief that Baltimore police can be trusted | url = http://search.proquest.com/docview/406458343|accessdate=20 Jun 2015 | work = The [Baltimore] Sun | publisher = ProQuest Newsstand | date = 7 November 1999}} & lt;/ref & gt;
Murphy's relationship with the State Attorney who filed charges against the officers involved in Gray's case, Marilyn Mosby, was the source of controversy when defense lawyers alleged, in a movement to reject the case, that the bond was a conflict of interest on his part.. (The motion also accused several other potential reasons for dismissal.) In particular, Murphy was donated to Mosby's campaign, serving as one of 14 members of his transition team, and representing him in a continuing Grievance Law Commission, characterized by the State Attorney's Office as " reckless." The Brotherhood Police Order also publicly called Mosby to resign from the case. In response, the prosecutor asserted that no alleged reason was the legal basis for the allegation to be dismissed; they also pointed out that "Murphy's $ 4,000 contribution to Mosby's campaign" amounted to "only 1.3 percent of the overall campaign fund" and is comparable to a $ 3,250 donation by "The Order of the Brotherhood Police, a union representing Baltimore police officers." Throughout the controversy, Murphy defends Mosby and insists that there will be no conflict of interest.
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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