MURPHY & RILEY, P.C. - Key Persons
Chase H. Kennedy joined Murphy & Riley, P.C. as an Associate in November 2016 after graduating from Suffolk University Law School and becoming a member of the bar of both the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the State of Rhode Island. Before joining the firm as an Associate, Chase spent the previous five years working as a full-time paralegal for the firm while attending law school. Before working at Murphy & Riley, P.C. as a paralegal, Chase interned for an immigration law firm.
Chase's practice with Murphy & Riley, P.C. focuses on insurance defense, premises liability, motor vehicle accidents, and products liability in both Federal and State Court in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
Chase is a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross and Suffolk University Law School.
Christopher G. Long is a civil litigation attorney with twenty years of experience. He joined Murphy & Riley, P.C. in 2006, bringing with him years of experience in representing both defendants and plaintiffs in civil actions. He specializes in premises liability, motor vehicle accidents, workplace discrimination and litigation involving non-profit social services agencies. He has represented clients in both State and Federal court.
Chris was a member of the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Defense Lawyers Association from 2009 - 2014 and was Co-chair of its Defense Associates' Division Committee. As Co-chair of this committee he organized seminars for the education and professional growth of young defense attorneys including the How to Survive & Thrive as a New Associate program and the "Brown Bag Lunch" trial practice series. He has also organized and conducted events to promote collegiality and civility among both defense and plaintiff's attorneys.
Practice Areas
Premises liability
Christopher Perillo is a Member attorney at Murphy & Riley, P.C. Christopher is a successful and experienced trial attorney focusing on premises liability, construction accidents and defects, civil rights litigation, product liability, property damage, traumatic brain injury, M.G.L. ch. 93A and ch. 176D violations, unfair claims settlement practices, wrongful death and bodily injury claims. Chris has successfully defended clients at the State and Federal Courts in Massachusetts.
David joined Murphy & Riley, P.C. as an Associate in August 2018. Prior to joining the firm, David served as an Assistant Corporation Counsel for the City of Boston and as a Staff Trial Attorney with the Committee for Public Counsel Services in Worcester, Massachusetts.
David has experience representing clients in state and federal courts, handling complex and varied matters from inception through trial. David's previous experience includes municipal law, contract law, property law, family law, constitutional law, and general civil litigation.
Frank L. DePasquale is a Shareholder at Murphy & Riley, P.C. where he represents individuals, businesses, and not-for-profit corporations in personal injury, contractual, criminal defense and domestic relation matters. Frank has litigated these matters in both Massachusetts and New York State since 1998, representing clients on a wide range of issues including wrongful death, sexual assault, financial torts and crimes, contractual claims and child custody matters. Frank has tried over twenty cases to verdict in the state courts of MA and NY in each of these practice areas.
Practice Areas
Defense of Personal Injury Matters
Heidi Oh joined Murphy & Riley, P.C. with twenty years of experience specializing in the defense of health care providers. Heidi has defended physicians and nurses in medical malpractice cases before Massachusetts and Federal courts, and advocated on behalf of physicians, nurses and allied health providers before their respective professional licensing boards. Heidi has represented health care providers and institutions who are called as witnesses in a variety of class actions, civil cases, criminal matters, and probate and family court matters. Heidi has also assisted health care institutions in responding to and preparing for investigations by state agencies such as the Department of Mental Health and the Department of Public Health.
Heidi is also a frequent lecturer on various medico-legal topics and enjoys teaching at hospitals and clinics on timely topics such as medical recordkeeping, the dangers of social media in medicine and opioid prescribing practices. She has been selected as a Super Lawyer from 2015-2021.
Heidi completed a dual degree program at Boston University School of Law and School of Public Health, graduating with a Juris Doctor and Master's in Public Health. She served as Case and Note Editor of the Probate Law Journal.
Practice Areas
Massachusetts, 1994
Holle Forbes joined Murphy & Riley, PC with more than fifteen years' experience as a litigator. She specializes in personal injury cases involving catastrophic injuries. She has lectured at legal seminars on the Massachusetts Wrongful Death Statute, Lead Poisoning and Municipal Liability. She especially enjoys supporting clients who are new to the legal system and who appreciate her personal as well as professional support.
Holle is the former Chair of the Charles River Center's Human Rights Committee, and now serves as the legal representative on the Metro Residential Services/Department of Developmental Services Human Rights Committee.
Jameson W. Toner joined Murphy & Riley, P.C. as an Associate in 2017. He has experience representing individuals and organizations in a wide range of civil litigation in Massachusetts trial and appellate courts, and federal trial courts. Highlights include a proceeding in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in which Jameson helped a creditor obtain a judgment that a debtor owed the creditor over $445,000 and could not discharge that debt in bankruptcy. In another proceeding, before the Massachusetts Appeals Court, Jameson helped the executor of an estate successfully oppose a challenge to the executor's appointment and to a will benefiting the executor and his family.
Jack Coakley is a Shareholder of Murphy & Riley, P.C. Jack joined the firm in 1996 and has extensive litigation experience representing insurance companies, their insureds and self-insured entities in federal court and the Courts of the Commonwealth and before the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and other administrative agencies. He has represented and counseled numerous entities and individuals in hundreds of cases throughout Massachusetts on a myriad of issues including employment-related litigation, discrimination claims, civil rights claims, wrongful death claims, medical and legal malpractice claims, state administrative investigations, and numerous other matters. In addition to being an experienced trial attorney, Jack has extensive appellate experience in the Massachusetts Appeals Court and the Supreme Judicial Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. Jack has been selected to the Massachusetts Super Lawyers list every year since 2016.
Job Titles:
- Shareholder
- Shareholder of Murphy
Joe King is a Shareholder of Murphy & Riley, P.C. Joe has been with Murphy & Riley, P.C. since the inception of the firm in 1993. Joe was originally an associate with the law firm of Murphy, DeMarco & O'Neill, P.C. and left that firm along with Rick Riley and Bob Murphy joining Murphy & Riley, P.C. in 1993. He has extensive litigation experience representing insurance companies, their insureds and self-insured entities in federal court and the Courts of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Joe has represented and counseled numerous entities and individuals in hundreds of cases throughout Massachusetts on a variety of issues including contract disputes, insurance coverage and declaratory judgment suits, bad faith matters, wrongful death claims and other personal injury matters, legal and other professional malpractice claims. In addition to his experience as a trial attorney, Joe has represented clients in the Massachusetts Appeals Court and other appellate courts.
Katy Garrison is an Associate at Murphy & Riley, P.C. She is a dedicated litigator focused on personal injury, products liability, construction, employment, business disputes, general liability, and insurance defense.
Katy joined the firm in 2019, bringing experience in complex jury trials, insurance defense, and regulatory litigation before administrative agencies. Katy received a Juris Doctor from Northeastern University School of Law and a Master of Environmental Law and Policy from Vermont Law School where she graduated summa cum laude. During law school, she placed third in the American Bar Association Energy Law Student Writing Competition (2015) and was a quarterfinalist in the Jeffrey G. Miller Pace National Environmental Law Moot Court Competition (2015). Katy earned her Bachelor's degree from Duke University, which awarded her the Judith McDade Prize in Cultural Anthropology for the most distinguished record in the major (2010).
Katy is admitted to practice before state and federal courts in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
Job Titles:
- Shareholder
- Managing Shareholder of Murphy
Kevin M. Sullivan is the Managing Shareholder of Murphy & Riley, P.C. He is an attorney with 25 years of litigation experience, including jury trials in four states. He has extensive experience in state and federal courts throughout Massachusetts. Kevin completed CLM's Litigation Management Institute and has received the Certified Litigation Management Professional (CLMP) designation.
Lauren joined the firm in 2011 after spending 5 years at a Boston law firm defending cases and representing clients in matters involving catastrophic injuries and death as a result of premises liability, products liability, toxic exposure, and motor vehicle accidents. Lauren's practice with Murphy & Riley, P.C. focuses on premises liability and general liability defense.
Lisa Oliver White joined Murphy & Riley, P.C. as an Associate in 2010, and was elected a Member in 2018. Lisa is licensed and has trial experience in the state courts in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Her current practice is devoted to representation of medical and mental health professionals, drug and medical device litigation, as well as general liability matters in state and federal courts. For several years prior to joining the firm, Lisa's focus was on general liability, premises liability and tort defense in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Earlier, she served as a judicial law clerk in the chambers of the Honorable Maureen McKenna Goldberg of the Rhode Island Supreme Court. While at Suffolk University Law School, from which she graduated magna cum laude in 2006, Lisa was the Production Editor of the Suffolk University Law Review.
Matt A. Murphy Joined Murphy & Riley, P.C. as an Associate in 2022. Matt's current practice is devoted to representation of medical and mental health professionals, drug and medical device litigation, as well as general liability matters in state and federal courts.
After graduating from Drexel University Law School in Philadelphia, Matt began his career as an Assistant District Attorney in Worcester, MA. Through this work, Matt gained an exceptional amount of courtroom experience through the numerous motions and trials he conducted. He spent three years prior to joining Murphy & Riley in a boutique civil firm in Worcester, MA. This experience provided him a broad array of civil experience within several different areas of the law within the District, Superior and Federal Court systems for both plaintiff and defense. Matt is passionate about law and shows this through his dedication to his clients.
Peter C. Kober is of counsel to Murphy & Riley, P.C. Peter has tried cases and argued appeals, in cases involving general liability (automobile, premises liability, liquor liability and construction), employment contract and employment discrimination, product liability, "toxic torts", professional malpractice, and insurance coverage and "bad faith" issues, as well as involving commercial disputes, in Massachusetts for more than 30 years. He has also appeared as counsel pro hac vice in cases in state courts in New Hampshire and Rhode Island and in federal courts in New Hampshire, Maine, the District of Columbia and the Middle District of Florida.
Richard N. Bradley is of counsel to Murphy & Riley, P.C. Rich is an experienced trial attorney, having successfully tried hundreds of cases in various courts in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Prior to joining the firm, he represented national insurance carriers and their insureds, focusing on personal injury defense, premises liability and defense of bad faith issues. He has experience as a commercial litigator and has represented clients in business and land disputes. He also served as a Director at the Massachusetts Division of Insurance and served two terms as a Hearing Officer for the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers of the Supreme Judicial Court. He has also appeared as counsel pro hoc vice in cases in state courts in New Hampshire. Prior to going to Law school, Rich was a deputized college police officer.
Paul R. Kennedy joined Murphy & Riley, P.C., in 2016, where he represents the interests of not for profit social service agencies and defends general liability claims. Paul's prior experience includes serving major domestic and London-based insurers facing complex environmental and toxic tort litigation and claims. In addition, he spent nearly a decade with a Boston firm that traces its origins to the earliest days of modern product liability litigation. With that firm, he represented some of the largest and most well-known national and global manufacturers and distributors of automobiles, industrial equipment, and consumer products in a range of product liability actions in state and federal courts across most of New England.
Paul develops a deep understanding of each client's specific needs and works collaboratively to craft the most effective and efficient resolution strategy in each matter. Through fierce advocacy, he has made several successful dispositive and discovery motions. By comprehensive and assiduous trial preparation, and through mediation and private negotiations, Paul has worked towards achieving numerous favorable settlements for clients in matters ranging from minor breach of warranty claims to wrongful death claims.
Practice Areas
General liability
Practice Areas
Professional Liability - Medical and Legal
Richard A. Christine, Jr. joined Murphy & Riley, P.C. as an Associate in 2014. Rick has devoted his practice to civil litigation and has significant experience in the state and federal courts of Massachusetts. His practice focuses primarily on personal injury defense, including products liability, premises liability, and construction litigation.
Richard J. Riley is a Founding Shareholder of Murphy & Riley, P.C. He started his legal career in 1982 as an associate attorney at Murphy & Mitchell, P.C., an insurance defense firm the principal of which, Walter G. Murphy, was one of the most well-respected trial lawyers in Boston. Together with Walter and Bob Murphy, Rick established Murphy & Riley, P.C. in May, 1993. The firm, which started out with five attorneys, has grown steadily to its current size and scope.
Rich is a graduate of Boston College Law School and Dartmouth College. He has maintained his working knowledge of Spanish, having attended La Universidad de Granada in Spain.
Robert J. Murphy is a founding shareholder of Murphy & Riley, P.C. He started his legal career in 1980 as an associate attorney at Murphy & Mitchell, P.C., an insurance defense firm the principal of which, Walter G. Murphy, was one of the most well-respected trial lawyers in Boston. Together with Walter and Rick Riley, Bob established Murphy & Riley, P.C. in May 1993. The firm, which started out with five attorneys, has grown steadily to its current size and scope.
Susan Murphy is an experienced trial attorney, having successfully defended many clients in courts throughout the Commonwealth. Within the field of civil litigation, her practice is concentrated in the representation of health care professionals in medical malpractice actions and before the various Boards of Registration which govern these professionals. The medical aspect of Susan's practice covers all areas of medical specialty and includes minor to catastrophic injuries and death. Susan also represents not for profit social service agencies. She has a successful record of resolving lawsuits via trial, mediation, arbitration and dispositive motions. Susan has tried over 30 medical malpractice cases to verdict.
William P. Mekrut joined Murphy & Riley, P.C. as an Associate in 2004, after having practiced civil and commercial litigation with another Boston firm for two years. Bill's practice areas include defending medical and legal malpractice claims; representing insurers in insurance coverage litigation; defending individuals and businesses in cases involving construction accidents, premises liability claims, consumer protection act claims, and wrongful death/catastrophic injury claims; and appellate advocacy. Bill has represented clients in state and federal court in Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Appeals Court, and in alternative dispute resolution proceedings.
Bill is an active member in the Boston legal community and has written articles and presented at seminars on various legal topics concerning insurance defense and coverage issues. As a member of the Massachusetts Defense Lawyers Association, Bill has co-hosted a discussion on risk transfer issues relating to construction contracts and served as a panelist/moderator for a program designed to provide guidance to junior associates. Bill serves in the MassDLA as a member of the insurance coverage subcommittee. Bill has also been an Instructor of First Year Legal Research & Writing at Boston University School of Law.