The re-invention of Billy Murphy

Daily Record, The (Baltimore), Jun 8, 2002 by Joe Surkiewicz

Ask anyone familiar with Maryland's legal community for a list of the state's top criminal defense attorneys and you'll hear the name of former Baltimore City Circuit Court judge William H. "Billy" Murphy Jr.

Ask that person, however, to name a Maryland lawyer with a national reputation in the civil litigation arena, and the odds are that Murphy won't be mentioned.

All that could be changing, and soon.

Over the last few years, Murphy has transitioned from one of the state's best known -- and most controversial -- criminal defense lawyers to a complex civil litigation expert with a select team of top-notch lawyers to back him up.

And a client list that any law firm would envy.

Here's the short list of recent courtroom victories won by Team Murphy in collaboration with other legal talent, including top Baltimore attorneys such as Stephen L. Snyder, Arnold M. Weiner and Marvin Ellin:

In March, Murphy's and Snyder's firms joined forces to win a $276 million verdict against First Union National Bank (now Wachovia Corp.), which included the largest punitive-damage award in Maryland history -- $200 million.

Last year William H. Murphy Jr. and Associates helped successfully defend Microsoft Corp. in two $5 billion race discrimination class- action cases brought separately in Washington State by superstar lawyers Willie Gary and (in a bit of irony for the man dubbed "Johnny Cochran East"), Johnny Cochran.

Murphy was brought in by Snyder and Weiner to help prepare Merry- Go-Round Enterprises' Inc. suit against accounting firm Ernst & Young for trial. The case settled for $185 million, netting a record- setting $71.2 million in contingency fees

Other clients include Sony, Coca-Cola Enterprises, Don King Productions, Merck & Co., Allied Signal, Kaiser Gypsum, W.R. Grace & Co., Cargill and Carnegie International (represented by Murphy and Willie Gary in a pending multibillion-dollar suit against accounting giant Grant Thornton).

When brought up-to-date about Murphy's transition to the head of a firm that tackles complex business litigation, several people familiar with him said it's understandable.

"His victories don't surprise me," said Ellin, co-counsel with Murphy on a med-mal case that brought a $1 million verdict. "Billy Murphy is the kind of guy who pursues something and gets it. I've known him since the days he was on the bench. He's a highly gifted and persuasive person, which carries over to his trial work."

Ronald M. Cherry, a commercial litigator in Baltimore and the past president of the Monumental City Bar Association, said if Murphy hasn't achieved a national reputation yet as a litigator, "it's not long in coming."

"I knew him as a criminal defense attorney, but I've known him to change to the civil side," Cherry said. "His practice certainly has expanded in scope. He's handling a wider variety of cases than he's ever handled before, including a lot of high-profile stuff."

It's notable, Cherry added, that Murphy and Associates is a minority-owned firm.

"A lot of companies like having a minority firm representing them," he said. "Larger companies like Microsoft haven't hesitated to grasp on to that opportunity. Plus, Billy's made a good move by surrounding himself with very capable attorneys and staff, both black and white."

Murphy's transition from criminal defense lawyer to head of a nine- lawyer, black-owned boutique firm with a client list of Fortune 500 companies has ramifications for the Baltimore legal community, said Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Edgar P. Silver.

"Now he's doing the kind of work Snyder and Weiner do," said Silver, who retired in 1990. "That's healthy. This will give African- Americans in the community who are shy about going to law school a reason to reconsider. They're capable of doing what Billy's doing. He's paving the way for a whole new kind of law firm."

That's the message that Murphy, 59, would like to convey.

"I saw all those lawyers getting large verdicts and thought, 'If they can do it, I can do it better,'" said Murphy, seated behind a cluttered desk in his office on the second floor of the firm's luxurious Mt. Vernon townhouse. The wall behind him is filled with poster-sized, black-and-white photos of Murphy standing alongside heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali and boxing promoter Don King.

King, in fact, was a pivotal figure in the firm's reinvention: He convinced Murphy's son, William H. "Hassan" Murphy III, to bring his entrepreneurial skills and big-firm experience back home.

Defining moment

Now managing partner, Hassan Murphy, a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center and the eldest of Billy Murphy's four children by his first marriage, never harbored any ambition to practice law with his father.

"I was recruited out of law school to a white-shoe firm in Manhattan doing corporate finance," Hassan Murphy, 33, recalled, leaning against a desk in his father's office. "I had no plans of joining my dad. I was intensely happy with the work. I loved New York."