Oklahoma City University School of Law Dean Lawrence K. Hellman announced today that Tiffany Murphy will be the director of the new Oklahoma Innocence Clinic at OCU LAW. Murphy has been legal director and interim executive director of the Midwestern Innocence Project (MIP) in Kansas City. In those roles, she has managed clinical programs at the law schools of the University of Missouri – Kansas City and the University of Missouri – Columbia.

The Oklahoma Innocence Clinic will provide an opportunity for law students to work with Professor Murphy and attorneys in identifying and remedying cases of wrongful convictions. Slated to begin operations in the fall of 2011, the clinic will pursue only cases in which there is credible evidence of actual innocence.

Hellman said OCU LAW is fortunate to benefit from a director with Murphy’s talents, experience and commitment to justice.

“Not only has she successfully launched and managed two innocence clinics at other law schools, but she also has over a decade of experience pursuing post-conviction remedies in state and federal courts across the nation,” he said.

“She is a tireless lawyer, an accomplished manager, and a dedicated teacher who will be a worthy role model for our students. She is equally devoted to providing superior representation to those who need our help and to providing a superior pedagogical experience for clinic students.”

Murphy, who established the two Missouri innocence clinics in 2007, has been involved in all aspects of developing those programs, from building a staff to leading students in investigating claims of actual innocence.

Moreover, Murphy has been instrumental in landing more than $500,000 in grants for the MIP.

Murphy, who begins her new job July 1, said she is eager to help launch the Oklahoma Innocence Clinic.

“I do think it’s an exciting time for Oklahoma to look at and evaluate cases,” she said.

“It’s going to be daunting. Setting up a project is not easy. Trying to get online and a process in place to evaluate cases carefully and thoroughly takes some time. But I’m excited about the potential for it, and I think it will be a wonderful opportunity for students.”

She added that helping win the freedom of innocent people is a uniquely rewarding experience.

“It’s truly hard to articulate the feeling of it,” said Murphy.

“The students build relationships with clients and an understanding of how things can fail, but also how you can work to fix those things. I’ve worked with prosecutors and police officers who come in and are really interested in finding justice wherever that might be. It’s an amazing process to see what can happen when all parties set aside their own agendas.”

Prior to UKMC, Murphy did trial and appellate work as a federal defender in Nevada, Pennsylvania, Eastern Washington and Idaho.

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