Colleen Murphy ’86 Receives Pro Bono Publico Award

At the Rhode Island Bar Association’s Annual Meeting Awards Reception on June 15, Colleen P. Murphy ’86, Professor of Law at Roger Williams University School of Law, received a Rhode Island Bar Association Pro Bono Publico Award recognizing the outstanding efforts of attorneys providing justice to the needy through the Bar’s Volunteer Lawyer Program. Colleen earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia with High Distinction. She was selected for Phi Beta Kappa and for the Harry S. Truman Scholar from Virginia. She received her law degree from Yale Law School where she was the Editor of the Yale Law Review and Director of the Yale Moot Court of Appeals. Colleen has been a Professor of Law at Roger Williams University School of Law since 2000 and was recently selected 2017 Professor of the Year by the graduating class. Her distinguished career includes being the author of numerous scholarly articles published in the nation’s leading law reviews on issues pertaining to civil procedure, remedies and the right to jury trial. Her many and varied public service endeavors most recently include being a member of the Policy Council of East Bay Head Start, the Planning Committee for the 2016 District Court Conference for the US District Court for the District of Rhode Island, and membership in the Bar Association’s Volunteer Lawyer Program (VLP).

Beginning in early 2015, Murphy accepted a VLP client for a divorce matter. Subsequently, DCYF proceedings were brought against the client months later as well as a related probate matter. Although she could have returned the case to the VLP because of the unexpected complications, she chose to continue to assist the client with these critical issues and reached out for mentors. She devoted a phenomenal 278 hours of pro bono service that resulted in a positive outcome for a family in tremendous need who would not have had the means to achieve justice without her outstanding dedication to these cases.