Profile
Spencer R. Murphy resolves real estate, land use, and construction disputes. Spencer works with each client’s particular needs, ranging from advice and resolutions outside a court of law, to litigation in state and federal court. He has experience with disputes of all sizes, with success at all stages – negotiations, demand letters, dispositive motions, mediations, trial, and appeals. His practice includes real estate and land use, quiet title, purchase agreements, leasing disputes, easements, construction and renovations, service agreements, and renewable energy. Since 2021, Spencer has been selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America: Ones to Watch® in the fields of Commercial Litigation and Real Estate Law.
Spencer graduated from Creighton University School of Law, cum laude, where he served as Editor in Chief of the Creighton Law Review. There, he was also a member of the Moot Court Board and Treasurer of the International Law Society. At graduation, Spencer was honored with the American Law Institute’s CLE Scholarship & Leadership Award.
Spencer earned his bachelor’s degree from Saint Louis University in Business Administration with a concentration in Economics and supporting area of International Business. After college, Spencer spent two years backpacking with troubled youth for a wilderness-based therapeutic program in Utah. During this experience, he taught soft skills, such as effective communication, and hard skills, such as starting a fire with sticks.
Areas of Practice
Education
- Creighton University School of Law, J.D., cum laude, 2016
- Saint Louis University, B.S., Business Administration, 2011
Bar & Court Admissions
- Iowa, 2023
- Nebraska, 2016
- United States District Court, District of Nebraska, 2016
- United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, 2020
Professional & Civic Affiliations
- Creighton University School of Law, Law Advisory Board Member
- American Red Cross, Omaha/Council Bluffs Metro Chapter, Board of Directors, Co-Chair of the Mission Committee
- Defense Research Institute (DRI) – Construction Law Committee, Steering Committee Liaison; Young Lawyers Committee; Steering Committee
- Design-Build Institute of America
- American Bar Association
- Nebraska State Bar Association
- Omaha Bar Association
Selected Practice Highlights
- Protected the revenue stream of three 80 megawatt wind energy generation facilities, and one 42 megawatt facility, defending an appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit after successfully obtaining summary judgment in the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska. Laredo Ridge Wind, LLC v. Nebraska Pub. Power Dist., No. 8:19CV45, 2020 WL 1848079 (D. Neb. Apr. 13, 2020), aff’d, 11 F.4th 645 (8th Cir. 2021).
- Successfully defeated objections and appeals to a 59.75 megawatt wind energy generation facility’s conditional use permit. Preserve the Sandhills, LLC v. Cherry County, 313 Neb. 668, 986 N.W.2d 265 (2023). In a related matter, successfully defended an appeal to the Nebraska Supreme Court regarding the lack of a statutory right to appeal an extension to a conditional use permit. Preserve the Sandhills, LLC v. Cherry County, 310 Neb. 184, 964 N.W.2d 721 (2021).
- Successfully defended multi-million dollar counterclaims for breach of services agreement. Atos IT Sols. & Servs., Inc. v. ACT, Inc., No. 3:17-CV-00082-JAJ, 2020 WL 3399910 (S.D. Iowa Apr. 21, 2020).
- Obtained a defense verdict in a bench trial on claims of quiet title and constructive trust, upheld on appeal to the Nebraska Court of Appeals. Loeffler v. Loeffler, 31 Neb. App. 93, 94, 978 N.W.2d 57, 59 (2022).
- Successfully obtained summary judgment in the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska defending against claims for breach of contract under a draft lease agreement. KCAS, LLC v. Nash-Finch Co., No. 8:17CV439, 2019 WL 687885 (D. Neb. Jan. 9, 2019).
- Successfully defended, negotiated, and mediated several premises liability and personal injury claims.
- Throughout various matters, advised owners, project developers, renovation companies, and construction companies as to lien rights, alleged defects, quiet title, and contractual obligations throughout the course of construction, and in subsequent litigation.
Recent Speaking Engagements
- “Renewable Energy – Wind and Solar – Powering Tomorrow,” DRI Construction Law Seminar, Phoenix, AZ, January 2024
- “Issues in Real Estate that Make a Litigator’s Life Easier,” Commercial Real Estate “R” Course, Omaha, NE, November 2022