top of page
Kevin1_edited_edited.jpg

Kevin L. Murphy

Partner

kmurphy@MLJfirm.com

859.578.3060

education:

  • State University of New York at Oneonta, B.S. Einglish, 1975

  • Salmon P. Chase College of Law, Northern Kentucky University, J.D., 1981

admissions:

  • State of Ohio

  • Commonwealth of Kentucky

  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Kentucky

  • U.S. District Court, Western District of Kentucky

  • U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio

  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth District

  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Fourth District

affiliations:

  • Kentucky Bar Association

  • Ohio Bar Association

  • American Bar Association

  • Cincinnati Bar Association

  • Northern Kentucky Bar Association

  • children's law center, former member of board of Directors

  • Northern Kentucky Convention Center Board, Member

  • Salmon P. Chase College of Law, Former Member of Placement Board

  • Salmon P. Chase American Inns Court, Master and Former President 

  • Ohio Valley Goodwill Industries Rehabilitation Center, Inc., Former Board Member

Bio: 

Kevin has experience in a myriad of areas including but not limited to, commercial litigation, personal injury, FELA, Title IX, product liability, patent/trademark, contracts, corporate and sports law. He began his legal career as a Judicial Law Clerk to the Honorable William O. Bertelsman, United States District Court Judge in Covington, Kentucky in 1981. Since then, Kevin has been in private practice counseling clients in a variety of industries, including representation of Major League Baseball athletes and umpires. He has been recognized with inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America .

Kevin mediates cases for other attorneys and their clients. He also acts as Settlement Counsel for clients interested in early resolution of disputes.

In 2013 Kevin won one of highest awards in the history of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, a $100 million verdict against the accounting firm of Grant Thornton.

Kevin served for 20 years on the Board of Directors for the Children’s Law Center and is a member of the Northern Kentucky Convention Center Board. He has also served as a member of the Placement Board for Salmon P. Chase College of Law, and as President for the Salmon P. Chase American Inns of Court. He is a former member of the Board of Directors of Ohio Valley Goodwill Industries Rehabilitation Center, Inc..

Kevin earned his law degree from Salmon P. Chase College of Law, where he served as Articles Editor for the Law Review. He graduated with a B.S. in English from the State University of New York.

Kevin devotes significant time to helping cancer families through speeches and his award-winning book, Surviving Cancer After Surviving Cancer. In the beginning of 2020 Kevin began hosting a Podcast “Thriving After Surviving”, which can be found on the website https://www.thrivingaftersurviving.com As well as iHeart, Spotify, Anchor and many other platforms.

Kevin has two wonderful daughters, Elizabeth and Kathleen, who share his passion for baseball. He also welcomed a grandson in early 2020.

 

Kevin grew up in a rough neighborhood in New York, mentioned over and over again in the film “Goodfellas”. By age 15 he was working in an Italian deli. Worked hard and kept his mouth shut. Next to the deli was a building with the windows soaped over so you could not see inside. The two buildings were connected in the back.

One day, the owner asked Kevin’s mother if could work late. She said fine, as long as he got home OK. She left, the owner opened the door to the rest of the building and Kevin saw it was filled with card tables, craps tables, the works. One hour later the characters were right out of a “Sopranos” episode.

“It’s 1969, I’m 16 years old. I cleaned their ashtrays, got them their beers and sandwiches. For that, they’re tipping me like you would not believe, $125, $150 a night.”

 

Kevin’s father drove a truck for The New York Times. His mother had 11 tumors throughout her life. At one point, his father was on strike for 126 days. “We were always struggling.” Many times, Kevin’s earnings went to support the family.

 

Two years later, he received a father-son union card and became a member of the newspaper and mail delivers’ union. He drove a truck at night to put himself through college. “I wanted out, and I needed an education to get out.”

He decided law school was the thing after an incident when he was pulled over and charged with speeding and running a stop sign. It was his junior year in college. He took photographs of the scene, drew up charts, put on his only suit and went to court. He argued that the officer could not have seen him from where he was parked and further, that because the officer was traveling in the opposite direction, he couldn’t have accurately judged Kevin’s speed. The judge agreed.

“I got to cross examine the officer. The judge asked if I’d ever thought of becoming a lawyer. That was the exclamation point.” He decided to apply for law school but didn’t have any money. He taught during the day and drove the newspaper truck at night to save for law school. “I worked two jobs for three years to save for law school and lived in a dump in Queens.”

 

He found his way to Chase College of Law. To pay for his education, he took a $49 flight to Newark on weekends and drove a newspaper truck. With one semester to go he ran out of money. Through the dean a Cincinnati widow who never revealed her identity to Kevin saw to it that he finished. Her conditions were that he would have his best semester ever and that once he succeeded, he would help others. He hasn’t forgotten.

 

Kevin can be a fierce litigator. “When you grow up like I have you get to know people. I converse with CEOs on a golf course and I’m just as comfortable with the guy who cleans my office at 8 o’clock at night. I’ve been that person. I admire that person. Those are the people who sit in jury boxes and make this country great. And I believe my history of struggling to get an education has helped me understand people in a way that has given me a real advantage in the courtroom, in negotiations and in solving problems.”

bottom of page