Mariah E. Murphy

Litigation, Bankruptcy, Reorganization and Capital Recovery, Consumer Class Action Litigation, Consumer Financial Services, Mortgage Banking

Mariah E. Murphy is an associate in the Litigation Department and a member of the Bankruptcy, Reorganization and Capital Recovery; Consumer Class Action Litigation; Mortgage Banking; and Consumer Financial Services Groups. Ms. Murphy concentrates her practice in representing lenders, commercial landlords, and mortgage companies in bankruptcy proceedings and in commercial litigation before federal and state courts.

Ms. Murphy has defended lenders, loan servicers, and title companies in multidistrict litigation (MDL), as well as in class action and individual litigation involving alleged overcharging of fees and violations of the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act (NJCFA), the Home Ownership Security Act (HOSA), and the Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act (HOEPA). 

Ms. Murphy has also defended corporations that sell or manufacture consumer products in litigation involving claims pursuant to the NJCFA and the Truth-in-Consumer Contract, Warranty and Notice Act (TCCWNA). She has represented credit card issuers and servicers in defending claims pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and the Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA). She regularly represents residential mortgage lenders and servicers in contested foreclosure proceedings.  

Representative Matters

• Serves as part of a team of Ballard Spahr attorneys representing bank clients in defending consumer class actions alleging improper assessment of overdraft fees in connection with debit card transactions
• Serves as part of a team of attorneys who prevented transfer of an overdraft fee class action to MDL proceedings based upon a successful motion to compel individual arbitration
• Worked with the team of lawyers who prevented centralization of an overdraft fee class action to MDL proceedings due to a pending settlement agreement
• Regularly represents residential mortgage lenders and servicers in contested foreclosure proceedings involving alleged violations of TILA, RESPA, HOEPA, HOSA, and NJCFA
• Represents secured lenders and commercial landlords in chapter 7 and chapter 11 proceedings
• Successfully represented a title company in the resolution of a class action filed against New Jersey's largest title company involving alleged RESPA violations
• Defeated class action on a motion to dismiss alleging violations of a discharge injunction on behalf of a national mortgage company
• Currently defending consumer product manufacturer in multidistrict class action litigation alleging misrepresentations in the sale of goods and violations of state consumer fraud and deceptive trade practices acts
• Prevailed on motion to dismiss state law claims as preempted by the Fair Credit Reporting Act on behalf of credit card issuer
• Represented secured creditor in successful purchase of real estate developments through Section 363 sale in bankruptcy proceedings
• Successfully converted confirmed Chapter 11 case to Chapter 7 on behalf of secured lender where debtors failed to substantially consummate the plan
• Represented commercial tenant in enforcing its right of first refusal to purchase property from Chapter 11 debtor
• Prevailed in representing special servicers and secured lenders in expedited Chapter 11 proceedings in single-asset real estate cases
• Enforced rights of contract purchaser to exercise Agreement of Sale in involuntary bankruptcy proceedings
• Represented commercial landlords in retail bankruptcy cases with respect to lease rejection, assumption, and assignment
• Defeated trustee's equitable subordination and recharacterization claims on summary judgment on behalf of secured lender
• Preserved valid mortgage lien of junior lien holder where debtor and senior lender sought to extinguish lien through a Section 363 sale of property free and clear of junior lien holder's claim
• Has represented secured and unsecured creditors in adversary proceedings seeking the recovery of preferential transfers and fraudulent conveyances

Pro Bono Experience

Ms. Murphy's pro bono experience includes assisting low-income tenants in eviction proceedings. She also assists them with property purchase, obtaining support from the New Jersey mortgage and financing agency. In addition, Ms. Murphy currently represents a charity in an avoidance action in bankruptcy proceedings.

Judicial Clerkships

Hon. William H. Gindin, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey, 2001-2003

Hon. Raymond T. Lyons, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey, 2003-2004

Federal Clerkship Clinical Honors Program, Hon. Clifford Scott Green, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

Summer intern, Hon. M. Faith Angell, U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

Professional Activities

Defense Research Institute's class action litigation subgroup
American Bankruptcy Institute
Bankruptcy Inn of Court
Women in Federal Practice

Recognition & Accomplishments

Appointment by Hon. Judith Wizmur, Chief Judge of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey, to the Lawyers' Advisory Committee for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey

Ranked by The Deal as one of the top bankruptcy lawyers in the country by number of active assignments in 2009

Publications

Co-author, "Sorry, Party's Over: Defeating the Class After Certification," DRI: The Voice, December 9, 2009

Contributing author, "Deepening Insolvency," seminar materials for the E.D. Pennsylvania Bankruptcy Conference, February 2007

Co-author, "Bill Seeks To Regulate Homeowner Associations," New Jersey Law Journal, July 2005

"A Proposal for Achieving Efficiency and Consistency in the Implementation of the 1996 Telecommunications Act," Temple Environmental Law & Technology Journal, Spring 2001

Speaking Engagements

Guest lecturer, "Bankruptcy Overview," Rutgers School of Business, April 2009

Panelist, "Chapter 11 Case Overview," Camden County Bar Association, January 2009

Guest lecturer, "Bankruptcy vs. Bailout," Rutgers School of Business, November 2008

"The Automatic Stay," Bankruptcy Inn of Court, March 2006

Temple University James E. Beasley School of Law (J.D. 2001)
Executive Editor, Temple Environmental Law & Technology Journal

Rutgers University (B.A. 1996)

New Jersey

Pennsylvania

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan

U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey

U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania