Tiffany R. Murphy, the U of A School of Law associate dean for academic affairs and professor of law, has been elected president-elect of the Eighth Circuit Bar Association Board of Directors. She will serve as president-elect through 2025 and then serve a one-year term as president beginning in January 2026.

Dean Cynthia Nance extended her congratulations, saying, "Professor Murphy's election to this prestigious position is a reflection of the breadth of her professional leadership and the recognition of her achievements both as an attorney and as a professor. Her leadership on the board of directors will help ensure that it remains the premier professional organization for attorneys, judges and clerks within the Eighth Circuit."

The Bar Association was formed to improve and facilitate the administration of justice within the courts of the Eighth Circuit; to raise the standards of proficiency and integrity in federal practice; to develop and implement effective, efficient and uniform rules of practice and procedure within the courts of the Eighth Circuit; and to assist the judiciary of the Eighth Circuit in whatever manner requested. Membership is composed of attorneys who are admitted to practice before the U.S. Court of the Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, as well as all federal judges and federal judicial clerks within the geographic area of the Eighth Circuit.

"It's an honor to serve as president-elect of the Bar Association," Murphy said. "I look forward to working with my colleagues in the Eighth Circuit to continue the mission of improving and facilitating the administration of justice within the courts."

Murphy has deep expertise in the intricacies of protecting federal constitutional rights and establishing actual innocence during post-conviction processes. Her career is marked by her commitment to overturning wrongful convictions of violent crimes, often securing releases by introducing new evidence and witnesses not considered initially.

Murphy joined the School of Law faculty in 2014 after teaching at the Oklahoma City University School of Law as a clinical professor and directing the Oklahoma Innocence Project, where she spent seven years representing Karl Fontenot, who was convicted in 1984 of murder, kidnapping and robbery. In 2019, U.S. District Judge James Payne ordered Fontenot to be released, citing newly discovered evidence that provides "solid proof of Mr. Fontenot's probable innocence."

During her tenure at the Oklahoma Innocence Project, she represented Malcolm Scott and De'Marchoe Carpenter, both of whom were wrongfully convicted and sentenced to life without parole. The two men served more than 20 years for first-degree murder before their cases were overturned in 2016. A Dateline NBC episode, "The Long Road to Freedom" examined the cases of Murphy's client Malcom Scott and of Corey Atchison, Scott's brother who was wrongly convicted of a separate crime. The episode featured an interview with Murphy as well as others connected to the cases.

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