Professor Marc Murphy brings four decades of experience as a trial attorney to his role at Brandeis Law. His career has included service as a prosecutor, criminal defense attorney and litigator of complex civil matters, including class actions and civil fraud. He has argued before state and federal appellate courts, served as Jefferson County Commonwealth’s Attorney, and practiced nationally as a partner in both Stites & Harbison and the predecessor firm to Frost Brown Todd.

Earlier in his career, Professor Murphy served in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps in Europe and Central America, where he was twice awarded the Meritorious Service Medal. In 2018, he was named Louisville’s White Collar Criminal Defense Attorney of the Year. At Brandeis Law, he also collaborates with the Office of Professional Development to enhance student learning and connect them with the practice of law in Louisville and beyond.

Professor Murphy graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Notre Dame and earned his J.D. from Brandeis Law, where he was an editor of the University of Louisville Law Review. As a law student, he wrote the briefs for the petitioner in Ray Oliver v. United States, 466 U.S. 170 (1984). He has also taught undergraduate legal studies courses at the University of Louisville, the University of Maryland and Florida State University.

In addition to his legal career, Professor Murphy is an award-winning political cartoonist for the Louisville Courier-Journal and other publications. He serves as president of the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists and sits on the board of Cartoonists Rights Network International, a nonprofit dedicated to defending free speech and human rights worldwide. In 2023, he delivered the inaugural McGaughey Lecture on Press Freedom at Murray State University.

Professor Murphy has also been an active voice for racial justice. Following the killing of Breonna Taylor, he represented protesters in Louisville, and spoke, wrote and marched as an ally. In 2025, he received the Louisville Urban League’s first Accomplice for Justice Award. In the summer of 2026 Professor Murphy's contribution "We The Owners" was included in an anthology reflecting upon the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, for which he also contributed the cover art.