William H. Murphy Jr.

Senior Partner

Murphy & Falcon PA

Judge William H. “Billy” Murphy Jr. is continuing the legacy of his father, Judge William H. “Bill” Murphy Sr. who founded The Murphy Firm in 1948, representing poor people from Baltimore’s 15,000 unit Cherry Hill Housing Project, until he became a judge on the District Court of Maryland in 1970. The firm, now known as Murphy Falcon & Murphy, may be the oldest African-American-owned law firm in the country.

Billy Murphy’s verdicts and settlements include Don King’s acquittal of mail and wire fraud in 1997; a $267 million dollar verdict against First Union Bank; a $185 million settlement against Ernst and Young; a $90 million class action settlement against Facebook; and a $34 million verdict for carbon monoxide poisoning.

Candid and outspoken against police brutality, he  has obtained a $44 million police brutality verdict for Albert Mosely, who was rendered a quadriplegic; a $20 million settlement for William Green, who was murdered; a $7.5 million settlement for Demonte Ward-Blake who was partially paralyzed; and in the Freddie Gray case, a $6.4 million settlement.

What’s the most important thing you do in your job?

Solve client extraordinarily difficult personal legal problems by winning their cases.

What is one aspect of your profession you would like to change?

The tremendous demands and pressure of the job and the harm it inflicts on your personal life.

If you weren’t in this industry, what would you be doing?

Enjoying life as a jazz musician playing great music around the world, if I could withstand the guilt of not participating in changing the world for the better.