Michael Murphy, the founder of a State Street lobbying firm, ImpactNJ, has joined McCarter & English‘s separately operated subsidiary, McCarter Government Solutions LLC, in its Trenton office.
Murphy brings decades of experience, countless relationships in the state and a family legacy of public service to McCarter’s lobbying offshoot. He will work alongside the firm’s lawyers and government affairs professionals to achieve clients’ strategic goals in the state.
“We are delighted to have Michael join our lobbying subsidiary, and we are looking forward to partnering with him,” McCarter & English Firmwide Managing Partner Joseph Boccassini said. “He has spent a lifetime in public service, starting when his stepfather, Richard J. Hughes, was governor and then chief justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court. I’m very pleased that we can now offer our clients the benefits of his experience, numerous relationships and incredible political insight.”
Murphy is a former Morris County prosecutor and a former candidate for governor. During his career, he has been named to several significant statewide commissions by both Democratic and Republican governors. Murphy currently serves on the board of the Community Foundation of New Jersey.
“I am looking forward to operating on an expanded platform and working in tandem with McCarter & English’s government affairs chair, Guillermo Artiles, in addition to other members of the law firm’s prestigious bipartisan lobbying practice,” Murphy said. “Lobbying is the combination of relationships and advocacy, and working with McCarter’s legal and lobbying team means working with the best to help advance some of the most important interests in the state.”
Among many achievements during his four decades as a lobbyist in the Garden State, Murphy was involved in promoting same-sex marriage, abolishing the death penalty and advocating for the cannabis industry — he was instrumental in securing a license for the first successful medical marijuana dispensary in the state and has worked in the recreational marijuana space as well.
Ryan Magee, who advises cannabis businesses on a broad spectrum of issues, joined the law firm in Newark last month.
“In addition to bringing his longtime clients to McCarter Government Solutions, we expect Michael to play an instrumental role in aiding the firm’s work with clients in industries that drive the state’s economy, including health care, cannabis, transportation, energy and manufacturing,” said Artiles. “He’s a pillar of the New Jersey lobbying community, and his contacts and network throughout the state can benefit the law firm’s clients in many different industries.”
Murphy, who works across industry sectors, has repeatedly been named to Politicker’s Power List as one of the state’s “100 most politically influential personalities,” and New Jersey Monthly has listed him in its Power Issue of the Garden State’s most influential people.
Murphy is currently a visiting associate at the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University, and he has also served as an adjunct professor at Eagleton, teaching politics and government affairs. Murphy earned his B.S. at Georgetown University and his J.D. at Seton Hall University School of Law. He also completed the Senior Executives in State and Local Government Program at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.
