Anne Marie Murphy

Murphy persuaded a San Mateo County jury last year to return roughly $2 million to the family of a man who had recently passed away.

The lawsuit, filed in 2013, produced a "fun trial based on circumstantial evidence," she said.

"The neighbor said he just happened to find a trust instrument leaving nearly everything [in the estate] to him in a recycling bin that tipped over," she said.

To prove the estate belonged to her client, Josephine Shook, Murphy presented during a 13-day jury trial evidence the defendant, Cyrus LaFarre, and his wife, borrowed $170,000 from the deceased man in 2012 and never repaid it.

The jury ruled unanimously in Shook's favor, allowing the estate to be returned to her and her family.

Murphy led the case alongside Cotchett Pitre & McCarthy principals Niall P. McCarthy and Eric J. Buescher.

- SAUL SUGARMAN