Sir Edward Henry Murray (born 4 May 1958) is an American-born British High Court judge.

Early life and education

Murray was born on 4 May 1958 in

Washington, DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

, United States and attended St. Anselm's Abbey School in Washington, DC. He completed an MA in philosophy at

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

in 1980 and a JD ''

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

'' at

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

in 1985.

Legal career

In 1986, he was admitted to the New York State Bar and was an associate of Sidley & Austin from 1986 to 1990. In 1992, he was admitted as a

solicitor A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...

and joined

Allen & Overy Allen & Overy LLP was a British multinational corporation, multinational law firm headquartered in London, England. The firm has 590 partners and over 5,800 employees worldwide. In 2023 A&O reported an increase in revenue to GBP2.1 billion ...

as an associate, being promoted to partner in 1993 and served in the derivates structure group at the firm until 2013. He is a naturalised UK citizen. Though he did not have a background as an

advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. List of country legal systems, Different countries and legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a ba ...

, he was appointed as a

recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a newsp ...

in 2009 and a deputy High Court judge in 2013. On 1 October 2018, Murray was appointed a judge of the High Court and assigned to the

King's Bench Division The King's Bench Division (or Queen's Bench Division when the monarch is female) of the High Court of Justice deals with a wide range of common law cases and has supervisory responsibility over certain lower courts. It hears appeals on point ...

. He took the customary

knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in the same year. Since 2022, he has been

Presiding Judge A chief judge (also known as presiding judge, president judge or principal judge) is the highest-ranking or most senior member of a lower court or circuit court with more than one judge. According to the Federal judiciary of the United States, the ...

of the South Eastern Circuit. On 12 July 2024, Murray sentenced Gavin Plumb to

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence (law), sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life impr ...

with a minimum term of 16 years, for the foiled abduction and murder plot of former This Morning television presenter

Holly Willoughby Holly Marie Willoughby ( ; born 10 February 1981) is an English television presenter, author and model. She has presented various television shows for ITV, most notably '' This Morning'' (2009–2023) and '' Dancing on Ice'' (2006–2011, 201 ...

Personal life

In 1984, he married Andrea Stang, with whom he has one daughter; they later divorced in 2018. In 2019, he married Bina Pandey.

References

Living people 1958 births 21st-century English judges Knights Bachelor Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Harvard Law School alumni Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom Lawyers from Washington, D.C. British solicitors People associated with Sidley Austin {{UK-law-bio-stub