Tom Murray has handled numerous trials in state and federal courts, including related appellate cases, since 1972. His extensive litigation practice has encompassed complex business, commercial, and financial cases, insurance defense and personal injury litigation, insurance coverage litigation and real estate litigation. Representative examples of litigation matters handled by Mr. Murray are:
- In 2002, Mr. Murray represented Century Surety Company of Columbus, Ohio, in a jury trial in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kansas, against an Overland Park insurance broker for the unauthorized issuance of an insurance policy, receiving a verdict of $1.2 million for his client.
- In 2004, Mr. Murray defended a prominent area hospital in a lawsuit brought by its former collection agency, in which damages in multiple millions of dollars were sought. He thereafter obtained partial summary judgment reducing the plaintiff's claims to $900,000. In 2006, approximately one week before final summary judgment arguments were scheduled to occur, the plaintiff wrote the CEO of the hospital informing him that the plaintiff would be dropping the litigation and apologizing that it had been filed.
- In 2006, Mr. Murray was retained to represent a group of long-time shareholders in a prominent eastern Kansas golf course and country club operation concerning claims of corporate mismanagement. Mr. Murray executed a successful takeover of the company's board of directors, which was accomplished only three and one-half months after the initial contact from the client group, four of whose members gained seats on the company's new board.
- In 2009, Mr. Murray successfully defended a prominent Johnson County municipality in a highly complex commercial litigation case brought against it by a Florida real estate developer. The case, which took more than three years to get to trial and drew national attention, involved a claim by the plaintiff for $4.6 million arising out of its involvement with a major development project belonging to the city. After a trial to the court, Mr. Murray’s client received judgment in its favor on all claims that had been made against it by the plaintiff, completely exonerating the city. The plaintiff thereafter appealed. The case was affirmed in its entirety by the Kansas Court of Appeals in November of 2010.
Mr. Murray has also defended numerous administrative claims and related litigation matters involving complaints of employment discrimination and civil rights violations. In 2001, he successfully represented the Kansas Department of Revenue before the Kansas State Civil Service Board, and handled parallel Kansas state and federal court cases, resulting from the termination of the employment of the Department's chief corporate tax litigation attorney (the state court case, Prager v. Kansas Department of Revenue, is reported at 271 Kan. 1 (2001)).
Mr. Murray has also handled significant banking litigation matters, in particular lender liability cases. His expertise in this area of the law is enhanced by his having served on the board of directors of a national bank for twelve years.
