Richard Murray was honored last night with the 2020 Richard Marden Davis Award at a virtual ceremony in his honor. The award recognizes his outstanding service to the legal community, along with his civic and charitable leadership.
The Davis Award is presented annually by Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP, the Denver Bar Foundation, and the Davis family “to a Denver lawyer who is 40 years old or younger and combines excellence as a lawyer with civic, cultural, educational, and charitable leadership.” DGS and the Denver Bar Association created this award in memory of Richard Marden Davis, one of the firm’s founders, who devoted himself tirelessly to the profession and the community. Each honoree “best exemplifies the character and promise of Richard Davis at that stage in his career.” Mr. Murray follows a long line of past winners who have continued to serve the Denver legal community.
“Richard’s first-rate reputation as a lawyer and passion for facilitating access to justice make him an inspiration to us all,” said DGS Co-Managing Partner Chad Williams. “We are proud to recognize him with the 2020 Davis Award, and we wish him every continued success in his career.”
Mr. Murray, who received his J.D. from the University of Colorado Law School, is a shareholder at Polsinelli, where his practice focuses on commercial and business disputes, as well as cases involving health-care litigation issues. He has successfully defended clients against multi-million dollar claims at both the trial court and appellate court levels. Before joining Polsinelli, Mr. Murray represented physicians, dentists, registered nurses, and health-care facilities in professional liability and licensure board matters. He previously served as a judicial law clerk for Colorado Supreme Court Justice Nathan B. Coats. He also completed several internships, including with former Colorado Supreme Court Justice Allison Eid, Colorado Court of Appeals Judge David Furman, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means, the Colorado House of Representatives, and the Denver City Attorney’s Office. Mr. Murray’s achievements and potential have not gone unnoticed: He has been honored as one of the Top 25 Most Influential Young Professionals in Colorado by ColoradoBiz magazine, named in The Best Lawyers in America, spotlighted as a nine-time “Rising Star” in Colorado Super Lawyers, and recognized as a “Compleat Lawyer” by Law Week Colorado. In 2018, he received the Denver Bar Association’s Young Lawyer of the Year Award. He is also a fellow of the American Bar Foundation and the Colorado Bar Foundation.
Additionally, Mr. Murray has leveraged his abilities as a lawyer and as a leader to benefit the legal and broader communities. He serves on the Colorado Access to Justice Commission and served a two-year term as president of Continuing Legal Education in Colorado, Inc. (CBA-CLE). He is the immediate past chair of the University of Colorado Law School’s Law Alumni Board. He also fulfilled terms as first vice president and second vice president of the Denver Bar Association, was on the Board of Governors for the Colorado Bar Association, and was on the CBA/DBA Joint Management Committee.
“Richard is a lawyer whose altruistic investment in the Colorado legal community shines through everything he does,” said DGS partner and Davis Award Committee member Catherine Hance. “We know that we can continue to expect great achievements from him in the future.”