Dennis Murphy is an expert in land use permitting and litigation. He specializes in representing public and private clients in complex land use matters before local boards and commissions, the state’s trial and appellate courts, the Housing Appeals Committee, and in adjudicatory matters before other administrative agencies.
Dennis was appellate counsel in a landmark Chapter 40B case, Reynolds v. Stow Zoning Bd. of Appeals, in which the Appeals Court annulled a comprehensive permit issued for a 37-unit apartment project due to public health concerns with the project’s septic system. Dennis was also co-counsel in a Land Court case that annulled permits for a proposed pharmacy in Winchester based on numerous zoning bylaw violations. In 2016, Dennis and his colleagues successfully defended the decision of the Dighton Conservation Commission to deny approval of a Chapter 40B project that would have harmed sensitive wetlands, including five certified vernal pools.
Dennis graduated from Wesleyan University (1989), and Northeastern University School of Law (1999). Before joining Hill Law, Dennis clerked in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, and for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. He also practiced at Boston firms Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, LLP, Goulston & Storrs, and Nixon Peabody, LLP, and was in-house counsel to CVS Caremark Corporation. Dennis served on the Duxbury Zoning Board of Appeals for nine years, including time as its Chairman. He is a competitive rower with the Duxbury Boat Club.
