James E. Murphy

Partner - Trial Lawyer at Claggett & Sykes Trial Lawyers
Las Vegas, NV22 years experienceAdmitted 2003

About James E. Murphy

James E. Murphy is a Partner and Trial Lawyer at Claggett & Sykes Trial Lawyers, focusing on aviation disasters, trucking accidents, and wrongful death cases.

Murphy earned his Juris Doctor from the UNLV William S. Boyd School of Law in 2003, his Master of Arts in United States History from UNLV in 2000, and his Bachelor of Arts in History of Art from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 1997.

Murphy spent two decades as an insurance defense attorney before transitioning to plaintiff representation, joining Claggett & Sykes in 2023. He holds a 40-hour Basic Mediation Essentials certificate and has handled over 200 Court-Appointed Attorney Arbitrator cases. He has served on the Nevada State Bar character/fitness and fee disputes committees.

Proven verdicts and settlements at Claggett & Sykes Trial Lawyers

These results are credited to Claggett & Sykes Trial Lawyers. A result appears under an attorney's own name only when a published source names them as counsel on the case.

A Utah judge entered a $951 million default judgment against Steward Health Care after newly trained nurses, an excessive Pitocin drip, and a delayed C-section at Jordan Valley Medical Center left a newborn permanently brain damaged.

Third District Court, Salt Lake City, Utah · 2025Medical MalpracticeRead the full story →

A Rio Arriba County jury held Acadia Healthcare and its New Mexico foster care subsidiaries responsible for placing an 8-year-old girl with a foster father who raped her repeatedly, returning one of the largest single-plaintiff sexual abuse verdicts in the country.

Rio Arriba County (First Judicial District Court), New Mexico · 2023Sexual AbuseRead the full story →

A 20-year-old painter suffered a traumatic brain injury in a 2021 ladder fall in Utah. A Denver jury found his workers' compensation carrier, NorGUARD Insurance, knowingly and unreasonably delayed and denied his care, including inpatient rehabilitation. It awarded $145.26 million, made up of $85.26 million in compensatory and $60 million in punitive damages.

Denver District Court, Denver, Colorado · 2025Workplace InjuryRead the full story →

A retrial jury in Utah's Fourth District Court awarded $81 million against Beacon Roofing Supply after one of its trucks struck and killed a 12-year-old boy who was crossing legally in a marked crosswalk.

Fourth District Court, Utah · 2026Truck AccidentsRead the full story →
$47 millionVerdictTop 20 in Nevada · #15

A Clark County jury found Amy Geiler's losses worth just under $47 million after hospital doctors raised her dangerously low blood sodium too quickly, causing permanent brainstem damage and locked-in syndrome.

Clark County District Court, Las Vegas, NV · 2023Medical MalpracticeRead the full story →

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case is unique and depends on its own facts.

Practice areas

Education

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Undergraduate

Bar admissions & credentials

State Bar of Nevada, admitted 2003
State Bar of Colorado, admitted 2026
State Bar of U.S. District Court, District of Nevada, admitted 2003
State Bar of U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, admitted 2009
State Bar of U.S. Supreme Court, admitted 2010
State Bar of U.S. District Court, District of Colorado, admitted 2025
Nevada State Bar - Character and Fitness Committee
Nevada State Bar - Fee Disputes Committee

Other attorneys at Claggett & Sykes Trial Lawyers

View firm →

Proven verdicts and settlements from other Las Vegas firms

Eglet Law
Eglet Law
$3.8 billion · Real Water Poisoning: $3.8 Billion Verdict in Alkaline Water Liver Failure Cases
GGRM Law Firm
GGRM Law Firm
Nevada Supreme Court Rules Overtime Counts as 'Full Wages' in Workers Comp Reopening Fight
Ladah Law Firm
Ladah Law Firm
$15 Million Wrongful Death Verdict for Family of Man Killed by Speeding Driver in Las Vegas
Richard Harris Personal Injury Law Firm
Richard Harris Personal Injury Law Firm
$38.6 million · A Soldier Shot in an Apartment Parking Lot, and a $38.6 Million Negligent Security Verdict
Dimopoulos Injury Law
Dimopoulos Injury Law
Las Vegas Woman Develops Three Brain Tumors After Decades of Depo-Provera Injections

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case is unique and depends on its own facts.