Brent Murphy is an associate in the Washington, D.C., office of Latham & Watkins and a member of the firm’s Supreme Court & Appellate Practice.

Mr. Murphy’s practice focuses on Supreme Court and appellate litigation and on dispositive motions in federal and state trial courts. He also provides strategic counseling to clients in their most complex and high-stakes litigation and regulatory proceedings. 

Mr. Murphy has drafted appellate briefs in matters before the Supreme Court of the United States (at the certiorari, merits, and amicus stages), the federal courts of appeals, and state appellate courts around the country. And he has been a primary author for dozens of briefs in federal and state trial courts, and in federal administrative proceedings. Mr. Murphy’s experience encompasses a wide variety of substantive legal issues, including constitutional law, administrative law, securities regulation, environmental law, intellectual property law, civil procedure, business and contract disputes, and complex class actions.

Mr. Murphy joined Latham after serving as a law clerk to then-Judge Amy Coney Barrett of the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and Judge Paul J. Kelly Jr. of the US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.

Mr. Murphy graduated summa cum laude from Notre Dame Law School, where he served as editor in chief of the Notre Dame Law Review and received the Hoynes Prize, graduating first in his class.

  • Slack Technologies, LLC v. Pirani, 143 S. Ct. 1433 (2023): certiorari and merits stage amicus brief on the scope of cause of action under Sections 11 of the Securities Act of 1933 for direct listing IPOs
  • ZF Automotive US, Inc. v. Luxshare, Ltd., 142 S. Ct. 2078 (2022): unanimous reversal after securing certiorari before judgment on the availability of federal discovery for use in international commercial arbitration
  • Guam v. United States , 141 S. Ct. 1608 (2021): unanimous reversal on behalf of Guam in case raising complex statutory interpretation questions under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA)
  • In re Philip Morris International Inc. Securities Litigation, 89 F.4th 408 (2d Cir. 2023): unanimous affirmance of dismissal with prejudice of securities fraud class action involving two issues of first impression under Second Circuit law
  • Foster House Tenants Association v. New Bethel Baptist Church Housing Corp., 275 A.3d 303 (D.C. 2022): secured unanimous reversal of trial court decision in suit alleging violations of the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act by property owner and developer on behalf of pro bono client
  • Crosby Valve, LLC v. OneBeacon America Insurance Co. (Mass. Super. Ct. 2022): secured groundbreaking summary judgment decision concluding that insurers are jointly and severally liable for defense costs in cases alleging long-tail environmental claims under Massachusetts law

Bar Qualification

  • District of Columbia
  • Virginia

Education

  • JD, University of Notre Dame Law School, 2018
    summa cum laude
  • BA in Political Science, University of Notre Dame, 2015