Caroline Murphy is an attorney with DeSisto Law who joined the firm in 2016. Since joining the firm, she has acquired significant trial experience defending clients in federal and state court jury trials. She has also gained significant litigation skills arguing before the Rhode Island Supreme Court and before judges in state and federal courts on matters ranging from contentious discovery disputes and dispositive motions to motions in limine. Caroline  also represents clients in federal court mediations and has successfully advocated on behalf of her clients to obtain favorable resolutions.

Caroline has extensive experience in the fact gathering process, taking and defending depositions and utilizing several different kinds of discovery mechanisms in order to gather the facts necessary to properly represent and defend her clients. She also has experience conducting independent investigations for municipalities. In the course of this work, Caroline has gained extensive experience in conducting dozens of interviews and compiling reports. In addition, Caroline provides immigration legal services to private clients for the firm.

Representative Experience:

• Successfully defended a police department and police officers in a federal court jury trial involving claims of excessive force and police brutality. The jury rendered a verdict on all counts in favor of her clients.
• Successfully defended a police department and police officers in a state court jury trial involving claims of negligence involving a horrific car accident resulting in several deaths. The jury rendered a verdict in favor of her clients.
• Successfully defended a school department and individual school employees in a state court trial involving school bullying.
• Won a favorable decision by the Rhode Island Supreme Court after making a full argument before the Rhode Island Supreme Court on the issue of Rhode Island’s Recreational Use Statute as it applies to municipalities.

Professional and Community Development

• Actively involved in the local Federal Bar Association Chapter and the Federal Court’s Litigation Academy, both as a participant and a demonstrator. Most recently, Caroline was involved in a mock remote bench trial as one of two attorneys demonstrating educating attorneys’ best practices for conducting court proceedings with Zoom technology. This program was offered as a Continuing Legal Education (CLE) course by the Federal Court to encourage attorneys to conduct trials remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Caroline serves as a board member on the Defense Counsel of Rhode Island and is involved in the Young Lawyers Committee.