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Murray L. Murphy, K.C., CPHR

Managing Partner, Charlottetown

65 Grafton St.
Charlottetown, P.E.
C1A 1K8

+1.902.629.4558

+1.902.626.9652

+1.902.566.5283

mmurphy@stewartmckelvey.com

Language(s) spoken: English

Bar Admission(s): Prince Edward Island, 1996

Legal Assistant(s): Daisha Richardson

Providing legal services through a professional corporation.

Murray practises labour, employment and human rights law, and is a Chartered Professional in Human Resources. He represents clients in education, transportation, construction, retail services, IT, government and media. Murray has extensive experience in court, at the Labour Relations Board, in employment standards proceedings, human rights complaints and grievance arbitrations. He is a labour relations arbitrator, appointed by the PEI Minister of Labour, and has presided over several labour arbitrations. Murray is a member of Stewart McKelvey’s Partnership Board, and is chair of the Firm’s Human Resources and Governance Committee. Some examples or Murray’s work include:

  • Represents many of PEI’s largest employers and leading businesses.
  • Represents post-secondary institutions in governance, policy and human resources issues, including collective bargaining, grievances, human rights complaints, accommodation, academic and discipline matters.
  • Acted as counsel to one of PEI’s largest private sector employers in one of the longest and most complicated proceedings to come before the PEI Labour Relations Board, including multiple certification applications, unfair labour practice complaints, successor rights and common employer applications.
  • Represents PEI’s largest consortium of Nursing Homes and Community Care facilities providing strategic advice, and representation on human resource matters including hiring, grievances, dismissals and human rights complaints.
  • Represented a large institutional employer in the defence of a human rights complaint that raised issues of national importance.
  • Helps clients prepare and implement workplace policies including harassment and discrimination policies, alcohol and drug policies, and discipline policies.
  • Represents clients in collective bargaining, including acting as lead negotiator.
  • Assists clients in handling and responding to workplace investigations.
  • Helps clients prepare employment documentation including employment contracts, confidentiality agreements and non-competition and non-solicitation agreements.

Education & Career

Education

University of New Brunswick, LL.B., 1995
University of New Brunswick, B.A. (honours), 1992
Certified Canadian Human Resources Professional

Activities

Managing partner, Charlottetown, 2021 – present
Partnership Board, Stewart McKelvey
Prince Edward Island Rules of Court Committee
Board member, Chartered Professionals in Human Resources, Prince Edward Island (CPHR PEI)
Practice group leader, Labour & Employment, Stewart McKelvey, 2013 – 2014
President, Law Society of Prince Edward Island, 2011 – 2012
Chair, National Administrative Law Section, Canadian Bar Association, 2011 – 2012
Course leader, Administrative Law, Law Society of Prince Edward Island Bar Admission Course, 2009 – 2014
Judicial Appointments Advisory Committee to the Federal Minister of Justice, 2006 – 2009
Canadian Association of University Solicitors
Canadian Association of Counsel to Employers
Mayor’s Task Force on Arts and Culture for the City of Charlottetown, 2012
Fundraising Committee, East Coast Music Awards 2011
Political commentator, CBC Prince Edward Island Television and Radio

Accolades

Best Lawyers 2024 Labour and Employment Law “Lawyer of the Year” in Charlottetown
Best Lawyers 2021 Labour and Employment Law “Lawyer of the Year” in Charlottetown
King’s Counsel, 2013
Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for community service, 2012
Best Lawyers, Labour and Employment Law, 2017 – 2024
Lexpert rating: Employment Law, 2010 – 2023
Lexpert rating: Labour Relations, 2011 – 2023

Publications

Author, Another Last Goodbye: The Life and (Near) Death of Mandatory Retirement in Canada, Canadian Association of Counsel to Employers Annual Conference, Montreal, QC, September 2014

Presentations

CAUT Investigations, November 2018

Recruitment and Hiring, October 2018

Cannabis in the Workplace (with Joel M. Dubois), Presentation to the Federal Court of Appeal for the National Judicial Institute

October 18, 2018

Canadian Association of Counsel to Employers Annual Conference, Co-chair, Charlottetown, PE, September 2018

Employment Standards on Prince Edward Island, June 2018

Performance Management and Investigations, February 2018

Union Avoidance, February 2018

Academic Accommodation and Appeals, August 2017

Crisis Management, Atlantic Association of Universities, Halifax, NS, June 2017

Performance Management, HRANS Law Seminar, June 2017

Crisis Management, Atlantic Association of Universities, Halifax, NS, June 2017

Crisis Management (with Maureen Ryan and Brian Johnston, QC), Stewart McKelvey Universities Seminar, March 2017

Panelist, Labour & Employment Principles Every Practising Lawyer Should Know, PEI Law Society / CBA PEI, January 2016

Another Last Goodbye: The Life and (Near) Death of Mandatory Retirement in Canada, Canadian Association of Counsel to Employers Annual Conference, Montreal, QC, September 2014

Restrictive Covenants & Confidentiality Agreements: You Can’t Always Get What You Want, Insight Workplace Discipline & Terminations Conference, Halifax, NS, September 2014

Today’s Critical Issues in Employment Law (with Stephen Carpenter, CPHR), Institute of Professional Management, Halifax, NS, October 2013

When Employees Bite Back: How Dismissals and Resignations Become Dangerous and Costly, Insight Employee Terminations Conference, Halifax, NS, September 2012

Organizer, moderator and host, Administrative Law Boot Camp, Canadian Bar Association, PEI Branch, Charlottetown, PEI, June 2012

Organizer, host, moderator and presenter, Stewart McKelvey Post-Secondary Institutions Client Seminar, October 2011

Labour & Employment Law: Current Issues and Trends (with Stephen Carpenter, CPHR), Human Resources Association of Nova Scotia, Charlottetown, PEI, October 2011

Moderator, Panel on Standards of Review, Canadian Bar Association National Administrative, Labour & Employment Law Conference, Ottawa, ON, November 2010

Panelist, Multi-Jurisdictional Administrative Tribunals (“Super Tribunals”), Canadian Conference of Administrative Tribunals Annual Conference, 2009

 
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