The State Ethics Commission today
announced that Attorney General Martha Coakley has appointed Martin F. Murphy, a
partner in the Boston law firm Foley Hoag, LLP to a five year term on the State
Ethics Commission. Commissioner Murphy replaces Commissioner Jeanne M.
Kempthorne, whose five year term has expired.
Commissioner Murphy brings a vast amount of trial experience to the Ethics
Commission. He served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the
District of Massachusetts from 1987 to 1991, including serving as the Chief of
the Major Crimes Division. He served as the Middlesex County First
Assistant District Attorney from 1992-1997, where, as the office’s chief trial
lawyer, he supervised a staff of more than 100 prosecutors and personally tried
murder and white collar crime cases. His appellate experience includes
cases before the United States First Circuit Court of Appeals, the Massachusetts
Appeals Court and the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.
As a partner with Foley Hoag, Commissioner Murphy's practice centers on areas
of criminal defense, regulatory investigations and civil litigation.
Commissioner Murphy is a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law
School and is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. He has
lectured on trial practice and ethics to the Attorney General’s Office and the
Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office and has lectured on criminal practice
at Harvard Law School. He is the co-chair of the Boston Bar Association's
Task Force to Improve the Accuracy and Reliability of the Criminal Justice
System and is a former co-chair of the BBA’s Criminal Law Section. He was
appointed by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court to the Advisory Committee
on Massachusetts Evidence Law.
"We are extremely pleased to have Commissioner Murphy onboard," stated
Commission Chairman Charles B. Swartwood. "I am well aware of his
excellent reputation as a lawyer. His wealth of experience will serve the
Commission and the Commonwealth well."
The State Ethics Commission is made up of five members, with three
appointments made by the Governor, one by the Attorney General and one by the
Secretary of the Commonwealth. The Commission administers and enforces the
conflict of interest and financial disclosure laws and has jurisdiction over
state, county and municipal employees. Commission members are appointed to
five year terms. Commissioner Murphy is Attorney General Coakley’s first
appointment to the Commission.