Sean M. Murphy

Primary Focus & Experience

Mr. Murphy defends companies and financial institutions in class actions and derivative litigation in courts across the country, and he regularly represents clients in regulatory and enforcement proceedings before the SEC, FINRA, DOL and state regulators. He has represented some of the largest financial institutions in the country in complex litigation matters, including, AllianceBernstein, American Century, AXA, BlackRock, Capital Group, Citibank, Dodge & Cox, Dreyfus, Equitable, Federated Investors, Fidelity, First Trust Advisers, flexPATH Advisers, Great West Financial, Hartford, Legg Mason, Merrill Lynch Neuberger Berman, NFP, Prudential, Putnam, Rabobank, Royal Bank of Canada, Russell Investments, Salomon Smith Barney, Voya Investments, Waddell & Reed and Wildcat Capital. He regularly defends claims brought under state and federal securities laws, including claims under the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Investment Company Act of 1940 and ERISA.

Mr. Murphy has extensive trial experience with an impressive track record of winning high profile and “bet the company” cases at trial, several of which sought damages over $1 billion. For example:

• Successfully defended flexPATH Strategies in a two-week trial of an ERISA class action lawsuit alleging breaches of fiduciary duty and ERISA prohibited transactions in connection with the use proprietary funds on a $1.2 billion retirement plan.
• Successfully represented Putnam Investments in a trial of a complex securities alleging state law claims for fraud, negligence and breach of fiduciary duty in connection with Putnam’s role as a collateral manager for a $1.5 billon CDO backed by residential subprime mortgages. After a two-week trial, the judge found that “the evidence was not close” and “Putnam clearly prevailed on all of the elements of [plaintiff’s] claims.” The trial victory was covered by the National Law Journal and the American Lawyer.
• Successfully defended Great West Capital Management in a three-week bench trial. The victory was so one-sided, the district court awarded sanctions of $1.5 million against the plaintiffs’ law firm for pursuing the frivolous suit through trial, a victory that was featured in the National Law Review.
• Tried the first “manager-of-managers” under Section 36(b) of the Investment Company Act. There, he led the successful defense of AXA in a seven- week trial involving claimed damages of approximately $600 million based on allegations that the fees charged to mutual funds used in variable annuities were excessive.
• Secured a trial victory for Hartford Financial seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in equitable disgorgement.
• Successfully defended Alliance Capital in a seven-week jury trial in an action brought by the Florida state pension board in Florida state court seeking over $3 billion in damages based on allegations that the pension fund’s investments were negligently managed. The jury returned a verdict in Alliance’s favor and awarded Alliance damages on its counterclaim.
• Successfully defended Capital Research in an action seeking billions of dollars in damages for alleged breaches of fiduciary duty in connection with the management of eight of the largest mutual funds in the country. Following a two-week bench trial in California federal court, the court dismissed plaintiffs’ claims with prejudice.

His track record of winning complex trials has been widely recognized. Three of his trial victories earned him “Litigator of the Week” honors from the American Lawyer. His jury trial win for Alliance Capital was ranked by the National Law Journal as one of the “Top 10 Defense Wins of the Year.” Mr. Murphy has repeatedly been selected by Benchmark Litigation as one of the “Top 100 Trial Lawyers in America.” Chambers has noted “he's magnificent on his feet,” “good in court,” and “a terrific and gifted trial lawyer.” Legal 500 noted Murphy’s “significant trial victory” in a case seeking $100m damages.

Recognition & Accomplishments

Mr. Murphy has been consistently recognized as a leading litigator by Chambers USA, Benchmark Litigation, Lawdragon, Legal 500 and New York Super Lawyers. Other recognitions and accomplishments include:

• Selected as one of the top 50 litigators in the country under the age of 50 in the American Lawyer’s “Fab Fifty.”
• Consistently selected as one of the top 500 litigators in the country in Lawdragon's Leading Litigators in America guides.  
• Repeatedly selected as a “Leading Lawyer” for securities litigation by Legal 500, which described Murphy as “one of the best lawyers for securities shareholder litigation, anywhere in the country.”
• Recognized as one of the “100 Lawyers You Need to Know in Securities Litigation” by Lawdragon.
• Benchmark Litigation has repeatedly recognized Murphy as a Litigation Star and a National Practice Area Star for securities litigation.
• Legal 500 USA has repeatedly recognized as a “Leading Lawyer” for dispute resolution.

Mr. Murphy has spoken on dozens of panels about complex litigation and regulatory issues, and has written a number of articles, including “The Trial of a Securities Case” (1996), “Litigation Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act” (1997), “Recent Developments in Litigation Under the Investment Company Act of 1940” (2004), “Mutual Funds Under Scrutiny” (2005), “Securities Plaintiffs Turn to Class Actions Under ERISA” (2008), “Court Finds Implied Private Right of Action Under the Investment Company Act” (2009), “The SEC’s Mutual Fund Fee Initiative: What to Expect” (2010), “Fund Profitability in Mutual Fund Fee Litigation” (2012), “Claims Involving Investment Companies” (2014), “Trends in Fee Litigation: Actions Brought under Section 36(b) and ERISA” (2014), and “Halliburton and the Fraud-on-the-Market Theory” (2014). Recently, Mr. Murphy has authored articles including "The So-Called ‘Fiduciary Exception’ To the Attorney-Client Privilege in Section 36(b) Cases” (2017), "Mutual Funds and Securities Class Actions: A Square Peg in A Round Hole” (2018), "Judicial Deference to Mutual Fund Boards: Lessons from Post-Jones Excessive Fee Litigation” (2020). He also co-authored portions of the textbooks titled Practice Before the Judicial Panel on Multi-District Litigation and Litigating Securities Class Actions.

Mr. Murphy served multiple terms on the New York City Bar Association’s Committee on Investment Management and is a member of the Albany Law School Board of Trustees.