Stephen J. Murphy - New York, NY

Stephen J. Murphy joined Block O’Toole & Murphy, the premier New York personal injury law firm, in 2005, following a successful career as a homicide prosecutor in the Brooklyn DA’s office. Best known for his work in the courtroom, Mr. Murphy now focuses on representing those harmed in catastrophic accidents, including construction accidents, motor vehicle accidents, premises liability incidents, and wrongful deaths.

In his years of civil practice, Mr. Murphy has amassed over $500,000,000 in results for his clients, with a yearly average of well over $45,000,000 in settlements every year since 2013. In 2021, he was the lead attorney on the top three construction accident results in the entire Northeast region, according to VerdictSearch. In 2020, he and Partner David L. Scher obtained three of Top Verdict’s top 50 personal injury settlement in the United States that year.

Some of Mr. Murphy’s notable results and achievements include:

• “The Good Samaritan Case,” in which Mr. Murphy and his colleague Daniel P. O’Toole secured a record-breaking $32,756,156 jury verdict for a man who sustained severe traumatic brain injuries after being struck by an out-of-control vehicle.
• The tenth largest settlement in the entire United States in 2014, in which Mr. Murphy and his colleague David L. Scher secured an $8,800,000 settlement for a pedestrian who suffered a traumatic brain injury and other orthopedic injuries after she was injured in a collision.
• A $15,500,000 settlement for a pedestrian injured in a knockdown motor vehicle accident case.
• A $9,950,000 settlement for a young social worker in Buffalo who tragically lost her leg after being struck by another vehicle in a parking lot.
• A $9,500,000 settlement for a painter who fell from an extension ladder and sustained a traumatic brain injury while working at an airport hangar in Westchester County.
• A $7,525,000 settlement on behalf of a family after a devastating car accident killed a mother and 7-year-old boy.
• A $7,400,000 settlement on the eve of trial for a union sheet metal worker who suffered back injuries in a construction site fall.
• A $7,200,000 settlement for the family of a 25-year-old Brooklyn resident who was tragically killed in an elevator accident.

Mr. Murphy’s hard work and skill in the courtroom have earned him many accolades from colleagues, opponents, and judges alike, and he has become a trusted authority on the law in New York and New Jersey. He was named the 2022 New York City Lawyer of the Year for all Plaintiff Personal Injury attorneys by Best Lawyers® Magazine, and in 2023, Forbes Magazine named him as one of the top 15 Best Personal Injury Lawyers in New York City. Described by Z100 Radio as a “legendary trial lawyer,” Mr. Murphy has appeared in The New York Times, Fox News, CNN, The New York Law Journal, and more to share his expertise.

Outside the courtroom, Mr. Murphy served as an adjunct professor of law at the St. John's University School of Law. He instructed students on trial advocacy and lectured on criminal and civil trial practice and evidence. Mr. Murphy was also an instructor for the university’s nationally regarded trial advocacy program.

Finally, Mr. Murphy is dedicated to charity work. As a proud member of the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital fundraising team, he has raised over $10,000,000 for the hospital’s critical mission of ending pediatric cancer. In 2019, St. Jude recognized Mr. Murphy as the Chairperson of the Year for his dedicated fundraising efforts.