About William Murphy

William H. "Billy" Murphy, Jr. is the senior and founding partner of Murphy Falcon & Murphy and one of Baltimore's most recognized trial lawyers. He entered the University of Maryland School of Law in 1966 after studying engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and went on to found the firm with Richard Falcon in 1971. After building a substantial litigation practice, he served as a Circuit Court judge for Baltimore City from 1980 to 1983 before returning to private practice.

Judge Murphy carries a 90% success rate in Maryland state court cases and a 40% success rate in federal matters, four times the national average. His notable victories include a full dismissal of all nine wire fraud counts against boxing promoter Don King, a $54 million settlement for Maryland homeowners whose wells were contaminated by Constellation Energy's coal ash operations, and a $34.33 million award for 23 victims of carbon monoxide poisoning at an Inner Harbor restaurant. He has been named one of the top five lawyers in Maryland by the Baltimore Sun and was recognized with the Charles Hamilton Houston Award for Lifetime Achievement in Litigation in 2004.

Proven verdicts and settlements

William H. Murphy Jr. won a $44 million Baltimore jury verdict after a police officer threw handcuffed Albert Mosley headfirst into a concrete jail cell wall, rendering him a permanent quadriplegic; the city refused to pay and the case ultimately settled for $1 million.

Baltimore City Circuit Court · 2006Premises LiabilityRead the full story →

After a 13-week trial, a Baltimore City jury awarded $34.33 million to 20 Ruth's Chris Steakhouse workers and three of their spouses after the workers suffered permanent brain damage when carbon monoxide from Pier Five Hotel's boiler system flooded their workplace over several months in early 2008.

Baltimore City Circuit Court (Case No. 24-C-08-001376) · 2010Premises LiabilityRead the full story →

William H. Murphy Jr. secured a $20 million settlement for the family of William Howard Green, a 43-year-old father shot six times by a Prince George's County officer while handcuffed in the front seat of a patrol car, at the time the largest such settlement ever paid by a Maryland local government.

Prince George's County, MD · 2020Wrongful DeathRead the full story →
$7.5 millionSettlementTop 20 in Maryland · #15

In March 2023, Prince George's County, Maryland agreed to pay $7.5 million to Rena Ward, the mother of Demonte Ward-Blake, and his estate. Ward-Blake was paralyzed after a county police officer slammed him, handcuffed, onto the pavement during an October 2019 traffic stop. The federal civil rights and wrongful death suit was settled without any admission of wrongdoing by the county.

U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, Greenbelt (No. TDC-22-0422) · 2023Civil RightsRead the full story →
$6.4 millionSettlementTop 20 in Maryland · #16

Freddie Gray, 25, suffered a fatal spinal injury while being transported in a Baltimore police van after his arrest on April 12, 2015, and died a week later. In September 2015 the city agreed to pay his family $6.4 million, and the Board of Estimates approved the payment unanimously on September 9. The city admitted no liability, and the money was paid in two installments from the city's settlement reserve.

City of Baltimore, Board of Estimates (pre-suit civil settlement), Maryland · 2015Wrongful DeathRead 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 Maryland School of Law
J.D., 1969
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Undergraduate

Bar admissions & credentials

State Bar of Maryland

Other attorneys at Murphy Falcon & Murphy

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Proven verdicts and settlements from other Baltimore firms

Schochor, Staton, Goldberg and Cardea, P.A.
Schochor, Staton, Goldberg and Cardea, P.A.
$190 Million Settlement for 8,000 Patients Secretly Recorded by Johns Hopkins Gynecologist
Miller & Zois
Miller & Zois
$5.5 Million Verdict After Pacing Wire Removal Kills Bypass Patient
Iamele & Iamele
Iamele & Iamele
$26.99 million · $105 Million Verdict in Off-Duty Officer's Murder of Tristin Little Sr.
Plaxen Adler Muncy Maryland Injury & Accident Lawyers
Plaxen Adler Muncy Maryland Injury & Accident Lawyers
$2.05 million · Jury Awards Calvert County Crash Victim $3.09 Million Against Off-Duty Prince George's Narcotics Officer
Saiontz & Kirk Personal Injury Lawyers
Saiontz & Kirk Personal Injury Lawyers
$436,212 · Baltimore Jury Awards $436K After Woman Is Dragged by Light Rail Car at Patapsco Station

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