Connell Foley LLP is proud to announce that Kathleen S. Murphy, a partner in the firm's Insurance Defense Group, has been named by the Middlesex County Bar Association as the recipient of this year's Civil Trial Practice Award.
Ms. Murphy will be presented this award at the 12th Annual Practice Area Awards Dinner Meeting, which will be held on Wednesday, March 22, 2017, at The Pines Manor in Edison. Other award recipients include:
Pro Bono Attorney of the Year: Edward J. Santoro, Jr., Esq.
Criminal Practice Award: Jessica Oppenheim, Esq., ARC of New Jersey
Robert J. Cirafesi Chancery Practice Award: Edward T. Kole, Esq., Wilentz Goldman & Spitzer, PA
Young Lawyer of the Year: Joseph J. Russell, Jr., Esq., Wilentz Goldman & Spitzer, PA
Municipal Court Practice Award: Tara Auciello, Esq.
Transactional Lawyer of the Year: Charles D. Whelan, III, Esq.
Ms. Murphy has extensive trial experience involving the defense of enumerable automobile negligence claims, product liability trials, environmental claims, and employment discrimination claims. She has broad expertise in the Appellate Court, having argued dozens of cases relating to evidential and substantive issues, and is also skilled in Supreme Court matters.
Ms. Murphy is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, one of the premier legal associations in the country. Fellowship in the College is extended by invitation only to those trial lawyers who have mastered the art of advocacy and professionalism, and is offered to less than one percent of the total lawyer population. She is also a member of the Fellows of the American Bar Foundation, a prestigious organization that requires elected membership; she was nominated and elected in 2001. She has served on the Supreme Court Advisory Committee since 2004. Ms. Murphy is a member of The American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). She was elected for membership in 1992, elected Treasurer of the North Jersey chapter from 1997-1998 and served as elected President from 1999-2000.
In early 2017, Ms. Murphy received The James J. McLaughlin Award from the Civil Trial Bar Section of the New Jersey State Bar Association. She was honored in 2013 with the Trial Bar Award from the Trial Attorneys of New Jersey, and in 1998 she received the Civil Trial Attorney Achievement Award from the Essex County Bar Association. She has been named to the Irish Legal 100 for the past two years.