Susan Murphy is in her fourth year as one of Jackson County’s Family Court referees. She previously served as the city of Jackson’s deputy city attorney for eight years. She graduated sixth in her class, magna cum laude, from Thomas M. Cooley Law School in 1993 where her law review comment was published in 1992. Murphy participates with many Jackson community boards and was named as one of Michigan Lawyers Weekly Top 20 Women in the Law in 2010. She also serves as an adjunct professor for Cooley Law School and Jackson College. In her free time, she enjoys MSU Women’s basketball, attending theatre and art events, antique shopping, playing tennis or golf, traveling to destinations unknown, and the unconditional love of two cats, Mulligan and Chipshot.
By Jo Mathis
Legal News
Residence: A condo in Spring Arbor Township.
Currently reading …The audio book “90 Days in Heaven” was recommended to me because the author reads his book, which helps animate his perspective. So, rather than read it, I’m going to listen to it.
What is your most treasured material possession? That’s a toss up – it is either my Green Four-leaf clover charm (from a baby bracelet) or my amethyst ring (that is now my gold pinky ring). Both were given to me by my maternal grandfather, who died when I was a little girl.
What advice do you have for someone considering law school? I loved every minute of law school; even the fact that I’m still paying for it. So, I would tell them go to law school for yourself, not because someone else wants you to be a lawyer. Immerse yourself into the study of the law and the history behind it. Enjoy it – life will never be that simple again.
Favorite local hangouts: Bella Notte, of course. Then there’s Slice ‘n Spice, Cowboy, and Hugo’s.
What is your happiest childhood memory? I’d say this one weekend at Taconic State Park in upstate New York. Everyone was there – Aunt Anne, Grandma, Uncle Robert, plus Mom, Dad, and Mike. It was the day Uncle Robert fell asleep in the sailboat, and I brought the boat back in to shore all by myself.
Which things do you not like to do? I’d say a certain post-50 medical exam, but I’m still emotionally denying that I’m over 50. So, we’ll just say I don’t like laundry, or cleaning for that matter.
What would surprise people about your job? I think people would be surprised to learn that not everyone who comes to the Friend of the Court necessarily disagrees with or hates their former partner. I think that “going to court” is perceived as a bad thing – and that your former partner must be trying to do something bad to you. Sometimes people agree on the correct outcome; they just need a little help getting it done within the confines of the law.
What do you wish someone would invent? Instant time travel – planes, trains, and automobiles just seem to delay the excitement of getting to your destination, and it takes time to come home again. Imagine if we could just “poof” here and “poof” there.
What has been your favorite year so far? 1993 – I was turning 30, I was graduating from law school, I was moving to Midland to work for an awesome judge, I was learning to play golf, and I had my entire life still ahead of me.
Does your job ever make you pessimistic? No, I have that fairytale belief that everyone is really trying to be good and do good things – some of them just haven’t figured out how best to do that yet.
If you could trade places with someone for a day, who would that be? I think I’d like to try being Queen Elizabeth – living in London, in an extremely historical residence, horse drawn carriages, pomp and circumstance, with the ability to see an entire monarchy from the inside.
What’s the most awe-inspiring place you have visited? In 2009, I took a long awaited trip to Sedona and the Grand Canyon — premised upon seeing Easter Sunrise Service at the canyon and to rejuvenate myself following my post-cancer treatment. Upon arrival at the Grand Canyon, clouds and fog overcast hid the canyon following the light snowfall. I was in a gift store around 5 p.m. that Saturday evening, when the sun started to break through. I went out onto the overlook outside the store. There I watched as God lifted the veil of the fog to show me the dynamic and meticulously crafted details of the Grand Canyon. I wept.
If you could have one super power, what would it be? Not sure it’s a super power, but I always wanted to have Samantha Stephens’ ability to twitch my nose and fix whatever needed fixing.
What would you say to your 16-year-old self? “You’re on the right path; keep your passion for the law in your heart. Don’t change a thing. It is all going to turn out fine.”
What one thing do you wish people knew about your work? That regardless of whether you like my legal decision or not, I put significant time and thought into crafting an outcome that would be just and supported by the law.
What’s your proudest moment as a lawyer? There are a lot of moments since becoming a lawyer that bring me great pride and joy. But without the degree, some of those moments and accomplishments would not have occurred. So, by far, graduating from law school with high honors.
What is guaranteed to make you laugh? The show “Whose Line is it Anyway,” especially if Colin Mochrie, Ryan Stiles, and Wayne Brady are the episode cast.
Must-see TV: “Downton Abbey,” “NCIS” and “CSI,” with a little “Murder She Wrote.”
What’s one thing you would like to learn to do? I took piano lessons a few years back. I used to play the violin. To be able to play either instrument—and play it well—would be awesome.
What is something most people don't know about you? I grew up in the Catskills Mountain area of New York in a hard-working, blue collar, lower middle class family I started working when I was 14, cleaning the house of my mother’s hairdresser. I babysat. My first real job was as a waitress at a dude ranch during my junior year in high school. My spring breaks were spent looking for or confirming a summer job – even when I was in college. I was out of college six years when I chose to go to law school. In those six years, I had paid off my undergraduate loans. In July 1990, I moved out here to Michigan all on my own because I could only get into Cooley Law School. In 1993, I became the first law school graduate in many generations for our family and later that year, passed the Michigan Bar Exam on my first try. I paid for law school on my own. I continue to pay my law school loans. So when I heard that someone thought I couldn’t possibly understand their personal financial blight because not everyone could have the same advantages I have had, I was extremely hurt. They really had no idea what they were talking about, where I come from, or what I am made of.
If you could have dinner with three people, living or dead, who would they be?
Jesus Christ
Abraham Lincoln
Alice Paul
Can’t-live-without technology: I really enjoy having a Kindle Fire.
So you're obviously a cat person? I am really a dog person. Cats are just more adept at living my lifestyle.
Does anything worry you? As I’ve gotten older—and gone through some difficult health issues—I really try not to let anything worry me anymore. Will I lose a job? I have had more than my share of lay-off pink slips in the past, most unexpectedly. I’ve gotten disappointed or upset by it, but I’ve gotten through it. Will bills get paid? Eventually, yes. Will something go wrong? Probably. What happens if I worry? I don’t sleep, and I don’t eat. The result – I don’t operate so well. So, worry? Yes that is human. But I constantly remind myself that everything has a reason, and this too shall pass.
What was the greatest compliment someone ever paid you? I was talking with a friend during our last semester at law school. When I told him that I would have given up my law school dream to marry a man I was dating before I came to law school, he told me he was glad the guy broke my heart because we really needed a lawyer like me in this world.
What’s the best advice you ever received? Actually, I’m not sure it was positive advice, but my high school senior year guidance counselor told me that I wouldn’t have good grades in college – that my grades would drop in college. Mind you, I was in the top 10 percent of my graduating class. He suggested that I should plan a simple college degree so I had something to rely on because I probably wouldn’t ever go to law school. His negativism haunted me for three years. In my college junior year, I finally figured out that I could have been an “A” student in undergrad. One of my college professors got me a great opportunity for an internship with Rhode Island Hospital and then, she thought so highly of me, she got me my first job. I didn’t make the same mistake with my grades during law school.
What do you drive? I drive Ollie – she is an olive, 2004 Pontiac Grand Prix. She may have 145K miles on her, but she has been the best fun car ever.
What would you drive if money were no object? I would definitely drive a green Jaguar.
Where would you like to be when you're 90? Enjoying the sounds of the ocean off the coast of New England.
What would you like carved onto your tombstone? God, be patient with her; she means well.
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