John B. Murphey
Partner
Phone (312) 541-1072
jmurphey@rmcj.com
vCard
John B. Murphey represents local governmental units in all phases of litigation in the state and federal courts. He also advises local governments on matters relating to employee rights and discipline, and serves as special labor counsel to a number of municipalities.
Mr. Murphey serves as corporate counsel to over a dozen Illinois cities, villages, school districts, and community college districts. He has argued numerous cases before the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and the Illinois Supreme Court on issues, including first amendment, fair housing, due process, employment discrimination, and zoning. DeBoer v. Village of Oak Park, 267 F.3d 558 (7th Cir. 2001); Hemisphere Building Co. v. Village of Richton Park, 171 F.3d 437 (7th Cir. 1999); Panozzo v. Rhoads, 905 F.2d 135 (7th Cir. 1990); United States Labor Party v. Oremus, 619 F.2d 683 (7th Cir. 1980); Hawthorne v. Village of Olympia Fields, 204 Ill.2d 243 (2003); Lapp v. Winnetka, 359 Ill.App.3d 152 (1st Dist. 2005); Village of Frankfort v. Village of Richton Park, 366 Ill.App.3d 649 (1st Dist. 2006).
Mr. Murphey has also represented both plaintiffs and defendants in Section 1983 litigation. As plaintiff's attorney he successfully represented an individual falsely arrested on accusations that he was the Unibomber in Ross v. City of Evanston, 96 C 6042 (N.D. Ill.). He represented Amoco Oil Company in the landmark decision of Amoco Oil Company v. Village of Schaumburg, 277 Ill.App.3d 926 (1st Dist. 1996), the first Illinois decision finding that a municipal land use dedication requirement was an unconstitutional regulatory taking. Most recently, Mr. Murphey represented the plaintiff in Baird v. Board of Education, 389 F.3d 685 (7th Cir. 2004), holding that a school superintendent terminated for cause is entitled to full procedural due process rights.
On the defense side, Mr. Murphey has litigated several recent noteworthy cases, including Pepper v. Village of Oak Park, 430 F.3d 805 (7th Cir. 2005) (false arrest/state action); Stachowski v. Cicero, 425 F.3d 1075 (7th Cir. 2005) (employment termination/procedural due process); Mainstreet Realtors v. Calumet City, 505 F.3d 742 (7th Cir. 2007) (associational standing); and Sigsworth v. City of Aurora, 487 F.3d 506 (7th Cir. 2007) (applying Garcetti to a police whistleblower claim).
Mr. Murphey makes regular presentations on issues relating to civil rights to bar and continuing legal education groups. Mr. Murphey has also been an elected official, serving for 12 years as a member of his local school board, the last four as President, and currently serves as Parliamentarian for the Chicago Teachers Union.
Mr. Murphey has been included in the roster of Illinois Super Lawyers for the past six years.
- EDUCATION
- Loyola University of
Chicago School of Law
cum laude, JD, 1976 - BA, Loras College
- Loyola University of
- PRACTICE AREAS
- Municipal law
- Regulatory compliance
- Labor relations
- Civil rights
- Zoning and land use
- Real estate
- Election law
- MEMBERSHIPS
- Bar of the State of Illinois
- Bar of the U.S. District Court for
The Northern District of Illinois - American Bar Association:
State and Local Government Sections - Chicago Bar Association
- Illinois Municipal League:
Home Rule Attorneys Committee - Illinois State Bar Association:
Education and Local Government Sections - Member for past 10 years of the faculty for the IICLE's civil rights symposium, which was recently presented nationwide via the Continuing Legal Education Satellite Network
- PUBLICATIONS
- Author, “Resignation Agreements and Releases, How Safe is the Public Employer?”, Journal of Illinois Institute for Local Government Law (2008)
- Contributor, Civil Rights Litigation and Attorney's Fees Handbook (Published by Clark Boardman)
- Author, Chapters on “Elections” and “Community Colleges” in the IICLE Handbook entitled ‘Illinois School Law’
- Written various articles which have been published in the Illinois Municipal Law Journal and the Journal of the National Institute of Municipal Law Officers (NIMLO).
- WHITE PAPER