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When: Thursday, May 23, 2024, 6:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Where Baltimore Visitor Center, 401 Light Street, Baltimore, MD 21202
Additional information on our honoree, NACDL, and the NACDL Foundation for Criminal Justice can be be found under the list of sponsors.
LEAD SPONSOR
Murphy Falcon Murphy
About William H. "Billy" Murphy, Jr.
Judge William Billy Murphy, Jr., an NACDL Life Member, lecturer, and long-standing ally, is continuing the legacy of his father, Judge William H. “Bill” Murphy, Sr., who was Treasurer of the NBA Judicial Conference for over 20 years. Bill Murphy founded The Murphy Firm in 1948, practicing in Baltimore’s Cherry Hill community representing poor people from the Cherry Hill Housing Projects. The Firm, now known as Murphy Falcon & Murphy is one of the oldest African-American owned law firms in the country.
Billy’s verdicts and settlements include Don King’s acquittal in 1997, a $267 million dollar verdict against First Union Bank, a $185 million settlement against Ernst and Young, and his successful defenses of H&R Block, which saved the company $5 billion dollars; Johnson & Johnson, $5.5 billion; the Housing Authority of New Orleans, $6 billion; and his remarkable defense of Microsoft against Johnnie Cochran and Willie Gary, saving the company $8.5 billion. He has won an astounding 91% of his more than 350 jury trials in 47 years of practice.
A candid spokesman against police brutality, Billy is most recently noted for his representation of numerous victims of police brutality, including the family of Freddie Gray. He has received over 200 national and local awards for legal excellence and community service, including the Charles Hamilton Houston Lifetime Achievement Award from the University of Baltimore School of Law, the Clarence Darrow Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Trial Lawyers, and the Thurgood Marshall Lifetime Achievement Award by the Prince Hall Masons.
About NACL and the NACDL Foundation for Criminal Justice
The mission of the NACDL Foundation for Criminal Justice (NFCJ) is to preserve and promote the core values of America’s justice system guaranteed by the Constitution – among them due process, freedom from unreasonable search and seizure, fair sentencing and effective assistance of counsel – by educating the public and the legal profession to the role of these rights and values in a free society.
The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), a membership organization, envisions a society where all individuals receive fair, rational, and humane treatment within the criminal legal system.
NACDL’s mission is to serve as a leader, alongside diverse coalitions, in identifying and reforming flaws and inequities in the criminal legal system, and redressing systemic racism, and ensuring that its members and others in the criminal defense bar are fully equipped to serve all accused persons at the highest level.
