Timothy Murphy is the Managing Partner of Hancock Estabrook. He has served as Managing Partner since 2018, furthering the firm’s mission to deliver quality and value with exceptional client service, to attract and develop top legal talent, and to support the community. During this time, Hancock Estabrook has grown with the hiring of dozens of lawyers, paralegals, and other professionals, moved into a new state of the art office space in the penthouse floors of AXA Tower I, been named a Best Companies to Work for in New York, and adopted a comprehensive strategic plan.
Prior to this role, Mr. Murphy served on the firm’s Executive Committee and as Marketing & Business Development Partner. He previously served as Hancock Estabrook’s Hiring Partner and Chair of the Long Range Planning Committee.
Mr. Murphy has over 30 years of experience representing clients in product liability, motor vehicle, construction accident, medical malpractice, negligence, premises liability, toxic tort, and commercial cases in State and Federal Court and is Corporate Counsel for CenterState CEO, the major economic development and business leadership organization in Central New York.
He enjoys connecting with clients to understand their business and the issues they are facing. This allows him the opportunity to provide thorough, practical, and creative advice when helping clients deal with litigation matters. Mr. Murphy’s clients include Fortune 500 companies, product manufacturers, trucking companies, retailers, banks, individuals, small and medium-sized businesses, security companies, higher education institutions, and municipalities.
Mr. Murphy grew up in Syracuse and is a second-generation lawyer with strong connections to the Central New York community. His father retired as a New York State Supreme Court Justice after 30 years on the bench, and his brother is currently a Supreme Court Justice in Onondaga County and the Administrative Judge for the 5th Judicial District. Mr. Murphy has presented to New York State Supreme Court Justices on the topics of “Concussion and Traumatic Brain Injury Cases”, “Resolving Medicare Liens” and “New York’s Presumptive ADR Initiative” at 5th District Judicial Seminars. He was also appointed to the New York State Continuing Legal Education Board by Honorable A. Gail Prudenti, Chief Administrative Judge of the Courts of New York State.
Mr. Murphy is regularly retained to serve as a mediator in Syracuse and throughout Upstate New York. Due to his vast experience representing individuals, businesses, and insurance carriers in many different types of litigation, Mr. Murphy is uniquely qualified to understand the different perspectives of both sides and the emotional, financial, and legal obstacles that keep them from resolving their disputes. Most importantly, he knows how to help conflicting parties overcome those obstacles. Mr. Murphy has been hired by dozens of different plaintiffs’ and defense lawyers to serve as a mediator in state and federal court cases venued in Syracuse and across Upstate New York. He has also served as a mediator in the Northern District of New York ADR Program.
Mr. Murphy has presented on New York’s new mandatory Early Presumptive ADR program to Supreme Court Justices and other Judges. He also presented at the inaugural New York State Bar Association Personal Injury Advanced Mediation Training Program for mediators to build the skills necessary to become personal injury mediators on court panels in the New York State Court system. Mr. Murphy has completed the 40 hours of mediation training required by Part 146 of the Rules of the Chief Administrative Judge qualifying him to serve on court-approved rosters of mediators and to receive referrals from the court. He also attended the ABA Advanced Mediation and Advocacy Skills Institute and the American Arbitration Association’s Advanced Mediator Training Series: Managing the Dynamics of a Multi-Party Case. Mr. Murphy focuses his mediation practice on personal injury, construction and labor law, medical malpractice, motor vehicle, negligence, premises liability, and product liability cases.
Outside of work, Mr. Murphy spends as much time as possible on or around Skaneateles Lake with his wife, Mary Ann, and their three children
Representative Matters
- Obtained a defense jury verdict in favor of the manufacturer of a chair purchased by the plaintiff, who fell to the ground and was injured when the chair collapsed as he sat on it (New York State Supreme Court, Onondaga County).
- Represented a commercial equipment lessor in a class action lawsuit where there were millions of dollars in potential exposure if class action certification was granted and obtained summary judgment denying class-action certification in client’s favor (New York State Supreme Court, Queens County).
- Successfully defended a product manufacturer in a toxic tort lawsuit brought by a plaintiff who claimed he sustained disfiguring chemical burns from coming in contact with our client’s product (New York State Supreme Court, Tompkins County).
- Obtained summary judgment in favor of the International Boxing Hall of Fame in a lawsuit commenced by former heavyweight champion, Joe Frazier, for alleged unauthorized use of his image to promote a boxing match between his daughter and Mohammed Ali’s daughter and successfully defended the case on appeal (United States District Court, Northern District of New York and United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit).
- Obtained a defense jury verdict for a physical therapist who was alleged to have committed malpractice for utilizing cervical traction in treating a patient who became paralyzed (New York State Supreme Court, Onondaga County).
- Obtained a defense jury verdict in favor of a nursing home that was sued by a guest who claimed he fell and fractured his hip as a result of the allegedly negligently maintained condition of the nursing home property (New York State Supreme Court, Oneida County).
- Won a dismissal of a malpractice action against an attorney who allegedly made fraudulent misrepresentations to and converted a third party’s funds through the use of an attorney’s escrow account (New York State Supreme Court, Erie County).
- Successfully prosecuted a lawsuit on behalf of the purchaser of a company against the seller to recover the costs associated with responding to the New York State DEC’S investigation of certain real property as a “superfund” site and obtained indemnification from the seller for all past and future environmental losses (New York State Supreme Court, Oneida County).
