Grace Robinson Murphy

Grace's practice focuses on managed health care, ERISA and bad faith insurance litigation. In her managed care practice, she represents payors in disputes brought by a wide spectrum of providers and participants. She also has experience with self-funded health plan disputes involving stop loss insurance. In her ERISA litigation practice, she represents sponsoring employers, plans, plan administrators, insurers, and third party administrators in numerous federal and appellate courts. Grace regularly handles benefit claim disputes brought by plan participants and beneficiaries (including life, health, disability, and accidental death and dismemberment coverages and pension and retirement plans), fiduciary breach claims, and COBRA continuation coverage disputes. She is well-versed in preemption, standard of review, and ERISA remedy issues. Grace also serves in a pre-litigation, advisory role with the firm’s corporate employee benefit and executive compensation group as they work together to keep clients out of the courtroom and in compliance with the changing regulatory landscape.

Grace has been widely recognized for her many years of experience in ERISA litigation including being named Best Lawyers® 2020 and 2023 “Lawyer of the Year” in Litigation: ERISA.

Community & Professional

• American Bar Association
• Alabama State Bar Association
• Birmingham Bar Association: Federal Practice Section, Chair 2016-2017, Former Secretary/Treasurer; Women’s Law Section, Former Chair of the Leadership Development Task Force
• Birmingham Children's Theater, Past Junior Board President
• Girlspring, Inc.
• Canterbury United Methodist Church Council Member

• Stewart v. Hartford Life and Accident Insurance Company, 43 F.4^th 1251 (11th Cir. 2022)
• Nunnelly v. Life Insurance Company of North America, 2022 WL 1640790 (11th Cir. May 24, 2022)
• Burns v. Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, 2021 WL 2815980 (W.D. La. July 6, 2021)
• Fenwick v. Hartford Life and Accident Insurance Company, 2021 WL 100549 (6th Cir. Jan. 12, 2021)
• Davis v. Hartford Life and Accident Insurance Company, 980 F.3d 541 (6th Cir. 2020)
• Smith v. Hartford Life & Accident Ins. Co., No. CV 5:19-061-DCR, 2020 WL 4355068 (E.D. Ky. July 29, 2020)
• Cofield v. Hartford, No. 4:18-CV-00607-SGC, 2020 WL 2218935 (N.D. Ala. May 7, 2020)
• Meiman v. Aetna Life Ins. Co., 2019 WL 5782099 (E.D. Ky. Nov. 5, 2019)
• Griffin v. Hartford Life and Accident Insurance Company, 898 F.3d 371 (4th Cir. 2018)
• Bales v. Hartford Life and Accident Insurance Company, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11180 (S.D. Miss. Jan. 24, 2018)
• ​Quarles v. Hartford Life and Accident Insurance Company, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10506 (W.D. Ky. Jan. 23, 2018)
• Griffin v. Hartford Life and Accident Ins. Co., 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10295 (W.D. Va. Jan. 25, 2017)
• Potts v. Hartford Life and Accident Ins. Co., 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 104432 (W.D. Pa. Aug. 9, 2016)
• Quarles v. Hartford Life and Accident Ins. Co., 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 65188 (W.D. Ky. May 18, 2016)
• Pugh v. El Paso Corp. Pension Plan, 617 Fed. Appx. 964 (11th Cir. 2015)
• Melech v. Life Insurance Company of North America, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 104898 (S.D. Ala. Aug. 10, 2015)
• Glenn v. Am. United Life Ins. Co., 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 6043 (11th Cir. Apr. 14, 2015)
• Campbell v. Hartford Life and Accident Ins. Co., 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 137366 (W.D. Tenn. Aug. 5, 2014) adopted by 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 136068 (W.D. Tenn. Sept. 26, 2014)
• Cook v. Hartford Life and Accident Ins. Co., 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 64125 (M.D. Tenn. May 6, 2013)
• Express Oil Change, LLC v. ANB Ins. Servs., et al., 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 43288 (N.D. Ala. Mar. 27, 2013)
• Kelley v. Hartford Life and Accident Ins. Co., 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 154299 (E.D. Tenn. Nov. 8, 2011) adopted by 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 39093 (E.D. Tenn. Mar. 22, 2012)
• Greene v. Jefferson County Commission, 13 So. 3d 901 (Ala. 2009)
• Ruple v. Hartford Life and Accident Insurance Company, 340 Fed. Appx. 604 (11th Cir. Aug. 11, 2009)
• Greene, et al. v. Jefferson County Commission, 563 F.3d 1243 (11th Cir. 2009)
• Vulcan Materials Co. v. Alabama Insurance Guaranty Association, et al., 985 So. 2d 376 (Ala. 2007).
• Hayes v. Hartford Life Insurance Company, 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 26682 (11th Cir. Nov. 15, 2007)
• House v. Life Insurance Company of North America, 399 F.Supp.2d 1254 (N.D.Ala. 2005)

Recognition

• Best Lawyers® "Lawyer of the Year" for Litigation - ERISA (2020, 2023, 2025)
• Birmingham Magazine Top Attorney of Birmingham 2020 for ERISA Law
• The Best Lawyers in America© for Litigation: ERISA (2017-present); Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law (2021-present)
• Mid-South Super Lawyers for Employee Benefits (2016-2017, 2022)
• Alabama Super Lawyers Rising Star, Employee Benefits/ERISA (2011-2014); Employee Benefits, General Litigation (2015)
• Birmingham Magazine “Top Attorneys 2015”
• Recognized as a "Future Star" by Benchmark Litigation

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