ANDREW MURPHY
AGE 37
FIRM Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP
LAW SCHOOL Indiana University Maurer School of Law
AREA(S) OF PRACTICE Employment litigation
2024 ILLINOIS ATTORNEYS TO WATCH
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A s a member of the Employment and Labor Relations, Litigation, and Appellate groups at the Chicago office of Taft Stettinius & Hollister, Andrew Murphy has represented cli- ents in a wide variety of often-complex legal disputes. And he's achieved some remarkable successes during his career, in a plethora of forums. He's successfully served as lead counsel representing em- ployers in cases centering on wage-and-hour violations and discrimination. He has represented competitors in disputes involving violations of non-competition and non-solicitation agreements, theft of trade secrets, and unfair competition. And he’s defended employers before a variety of state and federal agencies. But the legal victory that’s most significant to Murphy? The role he played in helping free pro bono client Walter "Tracy" Hill from jail after seven years of wrongful incarceration for an ag- gravated kidnapping and murder he could not have committed. Taft awarded Murphy its firm-wide 2023 Pro Bono Award be- cause of this accomplishment. "The effort and skill Andrew puts into all his work qualifies him for this honor," said Ian Fisher, attorney with Jill Grant & Associates in Grand Rapids, Michigan. "It’s demonstrated by his pro bono work to first overturn the conviction of an innocent man after seven years of incarceration at the Illinois Appellate Court and then following through with winning the retrial. His care and diligence on this matter, while maintaining his full load
Andrew displays an impressive understanding of all aspects of litigation. ”
of work, helped right a wrong that few, if any, lawyers could do." In another major victory, Murphy served as post-trial counsel to help preserve a $363 million dollar judgment in a toxic tort case, the largest jury award on record for a single plaintiff in Illinois history. Anyone who has followed Murphy's career is not surprised at such results. "Andrew is exceptional at learning new areas of law and per- ceiving where that law must be further developed by courts," said Jonathan Sheffield, a Chicago attorney. Murphy honed this skill during his three years of clerking for the Office of Staff Law Clerks for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Among the clerks, Murphy was known for reliability in his proposed orders and bench memoranda. “Andrew displays an impressive understanding of all aspects of litigation and lawyering and does so with kindness and com- passion,” Fisher said. “It also shows when he interacts with other counsel and co-workers in a polite, calm, reasonable and confi- dent manner.”
40 Under Forty 2024
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CHICAGO LAWYER & CHICAGO DAILY LAW BULLETIN
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