Dennis L.Murphy

Of Counsel

Cleveland + 1.216.586.7367

For more than 25 years, Dennis Murphy has tried product liability, commercial, antitrust, and employment cases as lead counsel in dozens of cases in U.S. state and federal courts. Dennis also has defended class actions and claims by individuals for personal injury, tried unfair competition claims, and coordinated complex litigation nationwide.

In recent years Dennis has been a member of the Firm's litigation team representing R.J. Reynolds in product liability trials throughout Florida, in both state and federal courts. He has represented Reynolds for more than two decades and has secured defense verdicts at trial in cases including federal court in Seattle to smaller cities in Florida. Over the years he has coordinated Reynolds litigation in Ohio, New York, Louisiana, and Iowa. Dennis also was lead trial lawyer for Zimmer, Inc. (now Zimmer-Biomet) and related entities in a series of cases arising from Zimmer's acquisition of competitive distributors. He has successfully represented Zimmer in antitrust litigation, including appeal to the federal Third Circuit Court of Appeals. In addition, Dennis has obtained a number of injunctions for Zimmer enforcing noncompete, business, and similar obligations. He has defended Macy's in business litigation and Sherwin-Williams in public nuisance cases brought against the lead paint industry.

Dennis serves on Jones Day's Firmwide Lawyer Training Committee and regularly conducts training seminars on trial practice. He is an author of the Ohio chapter in Tort Law Desk Reference — A Fifty State Compendium (Aspen).

Experience

  • R.J. Reynolds wins complete defense verdict in Agnitti wrongful death lawsuitFollowing more than five weeks of trial, a jury in state court in Woburn, Massachusetts returned a complete defense verdict in favor of Jones Day client, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, in a wrongful death case.
  • R.J. Reynolds wins complete defense verdict in Kinnally wrongful death lawsuitFollowing three and a half weeks of trial, a jury in state court in Boston, Massachusetts returned a complete defense verdict in favor of Jones Day client, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, in a wrongful death case.
  • Commercial sterilization company defends against multiple personal injury lawsuitsJones Day serves as lead counsel for a commercial sterilization company in multiple personal injury cases.
  • Commercial sterilization company defends against putative class actionJones Day is representing a commercial sterilization company in a putative class action seeking medical monitoring damages from Ethylene Oxide exposure at a facility formerly owned by the client.
  • Mexican immigrant secures release from ICE detention facility due to increased risk of serious illness from COVID-19At the request of The Legal Aid Society of Greater Cleveland, Jones Day recently secured the release of a Mexican immigrant with underlying health conditions from ICE detention.
  • R.J. Reynolds wins jury verdict in federal Deshaies ''Engle progeny'' lawsuitOn February 3, 2014, following six days of trial and approximately 90 minutes of deliberation, a jury in Tampa, Florida returned a verdict in favor of Jones Day client R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in a personal injury action finding that the smoker was not an Engle class member.
  • Mehoopany Wind Energy settles litigation with RES America Construction over multi-million dollar wind farm developmentJones Day represented Mehoopany Wind Energy LLC ("MWE"), the owner of a 9,000 acre wind farm in Pennsylvania consisting of 88 wind turbines.
  • R.J. Reynolds wins jury verdict in Baker ''Engle progeny'' lawsuitOn September 19, 2012, after three weeks of trial, a state court jury in West Palm Beach, Florida returned a verdict in favor of Jones Day client R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in a wrongful death case.
  • Zimmer wins judgment on pleadings dismissing untimely unfair competition claimsOn January 20, 2011, Judge Stanton Wettick of the Commerce and Complex Litigation Center of the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas granted a motion for judgment on the pleadings dismissing the final claims pending against Jones Day clients Zimmer and Zimmer-Randall Associates ("Zimmer"), along with all other defendants, in litigation asserting improper and unfair competition.
  • R.J. Reynolds wins jury verdict in Campbell ''Engle progeny'' lawsuitJones Day secures complete defense verdict for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in an "Engle progeny" lawsuit.
  • Zimmer wins dismissal of federal antitrust and RICO litigation in Third CircuitOn June 1, 2010, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, in a 3-0 decision, affirmed a dismissal with prejudice of federal antitrust and Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) claims brought against Jones Day client Zimmer, Inc., denied plaintiffs leave to amend on remand, and directed entry of judgment in favor of the defendants with costs.
  • Residence restrictions to sex offenders do not apply to client who had been convicted long before those restrictions were enactedWith supervision from Dennis Murphy, of Jones Day Cleveland, Ashlie Case completed representation of a sex offender from Parma.
  • Sherwin-Williams wins preliminary injunction decision in first case invalidating contingency fee agreement on due process groundsThe Court of Common Pleas (Lucas County, Ohio) dismissed the City of Toledo's lawsuit against a group of former manufacturers of lead pigment and lead paint, including Jones Day client, The Sherwin Williams Company.
  • R.J. Reynolds defends putative class action consumer fraud case in Louisiana courtJones Day defended R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in a putative class action consumer fraud case filed in Lake Charles, Louisiana.