Judge Murphy has been serving the Court of Common Pleas in Montgomery County since January 2010 and succeeded the Honorable Stanley R. Ott as Administrative Judge of the Orphans’ Court Division in January 2015. The Orphans’ Court Division approves adoptions and hears a wide variety of matters including terminations of parental rights, guardianships, will contests, trust and estate matters, and matters related to minor’s estates and non-profits. Judge Murphy is a member of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s Advisory Council on Elder Justice in the Courts and serves as the chair of the Orphans’ Court Section of the Pennsylvania Conference of State Trial Judges. Judge Murphy graduated from Harvard College in 1984, magna cum laude and Harvard Law School in 1987, cum laude. Judge Murphy served as a law clerk to the Honorable George C. Pratt of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, then served as a trial and appellate litigator in the Civil Division of the United States Department of Justice, and then as in-house counsel to a national non-profit organization advocating for women’s rights. Judge Murphy practiced law at Morgan Lewis in Philadelphia and at Heckscher, Teillon, Terrill & Sager, in West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania. She is a frequent lecturer on topics including guardianships, access of justice for older adults, end of life decisions, Orphans’ Court practice and procedure, and the Pennsylvania Uniform Trusts Act.

Mr. Dempsey is a Partner with the firm of Jones, Gregg, Creehan & Gerace, LLP in Pittsburgh. He graduated from the Duquesne University School of Law in 1987 and is a member of the Allegheny County and Pennsylvania Bar Associations. Mr. Dempsey’s practice is focused on litigation and appellate practice in the Orphans’ Court Division of various Courts of Common Pleas of Southwestern Pennsylvania in guardianship, fiduciary defense and prosecution, probate litigation, and similar cases. He is one of the founding members of the Allegheny County Bar Association Elder Law Committee. He has frequently been elected to the Allegheny County Bar Association Probate and Trust Section Council. Mr. Dempsey regularly presents educational seminars on behalf of the Pennsylvania Bar Institute. He is currently serving on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Orphans’ Court Procedural Rules Committee and is a Candidate Investigator for the Pennsylvania Bar Association Judicial Evaluation Commission.