Stephen J Murphy

Biographical Information

Stephen J. Murphy, a lifetime New Yorker with Irish roots, comes from a family of firefighters, police officers, prosecutors and teachers. Both of Mr. Murphy's grandfathers were members of the Fire Department. His grandfather, Stephen J. Murphy, served the City of New York as Interim Fire Commissioner. His other grandfather, Walter Matthews, reached the rank of Assistant Chief of Department.

Mr. Murphy joined the firm Block & O'Toole in early 2005 after a successful and rewarding career as a homicide prosecutor working in the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office under Charles J. Hynes. Mr. Murphy is a lawyer that is best known for his work in the courtroom, now focusing on serious construction accidents and catastrophic personal injury trial work. Mr. Murphy handles a wide range of cases including labor law and construction accidents, wrongful death, premises liability, tractor trailer collisions, medical malpractice and motor vehicle cases. Mr. Murphy was recently featured on Fox News Radio as one of "America's Premier Trial Lawyers."

With just five years in civil practice, Mr. Murphy already has an extremely impressive body of work, regularly returning verdicts and settlements in excess of a million dollars. Mr. Murphy, along with his colleague Daniel O'Toole, persuaded a Suffolk County jury to return an astounding verdict of $32,756,156 on behalf of a 60 year-old man in a traumatic brain injury case. The verdict, covered extensively by the local media, is the largest negligence verdict ever in Long Island and was featured in a cable television documentary entitled "The Good Samaritan." In addition, the result was also recognized by the New York Law Journal as the second highest negligence verdict in New York State for 2007 and one of the top 100 verdicts in 2007 for the entire United States. Recently, Mr. Murphy and his colleague David Scher, successfully negotiated a $5,500,000 settlement for an injured electrician that sustained a traumatic brain injury after falling from an extension ladder. In 2008, Mr. Murphy also successfully negotiated a $15,500,000 settlement on behalf of an injured client. In recognition of his achievements, he was named a partner in July 2008 and the firm name was then changed to Block O'Toole & Murphy. Recently, Mr. Murphy has been published in The New York Law Journal in a column concerning construction accident cases.

Mr. Murphy began his legal career working as an Assistant District Attorney. He honed his skills in the criminal courtrooms in Brooklyn, prosecuting violent crimes. Mr. Murphy earned a reputation from the judiciary and his colleagues as a tough, but fair, prosecutor. In early 2002, District Attorney Hynes appointed Mr. Murphy to his elite Homicide Bureau. Mr. Murphy, the youngest member of Brooklyn's Homicide Bureau at the time, successfully handled several high profile cases, including double and triple murders, arson homicides, gang murders and highly publicized murders of children and members of the New York City Police Department.

In July 2003, Mr. Murphy traveled to Sarajevo on behalf of the United States Justice Department to assist in the implementation of a new justice system in post-war Bosnia & Hercegovina. While there, Mr. Murphy, and two Federal District Court judges from California, were responsible for trial advocacy training for the newly appointed attorneys and judges in the region.

Mr. Murphy is an adjunct professor of law at the St. John's University School of law. He teaches trial advocacy and lectures on criminal and civil trial practice and evidence. Mr. Murphy also serves as an instructor for their nationally regarded trial advocacy program. His students have won national championships in trial competitions in four of the last six years.

Mr. Murphy has appeared on Court TV, Fox Radio and Sirius/XM Satellite Radio as a guest host offering expert legal commentary.

Mr. Murphy is a proud member of the St. Jude Children's Hospital fundraising team. He also is heavily involved in the Frances Pope Memorial Foundation, an important charity that assists families with a child that has been diagnosed with a pediatric disease such as leukemia and cancer. Mr. Murphy was a recipient of the "2010 Man of the Year Award" by The Frances Pope Memorial Foundation for his efforts on behalf of children with cancer (See http://www.francespopefoundation.org/2010_Honorees.html).