About Caroline V. Howerton (Murphy)
Caroline V. Howerton (Murphy) is an attorney with DeSisto Law who joined the firm in 2016. Since joining the firm, she has acquired significant trial experience defending clients in federal and state court jury trials. She has also gained significant litigation skills arguing before the Rhode Island Supreme Court and before judges in state and federal courts on matters ranging from contentious discovery disputes and dispositive motions to motions in limine. Caroline also represents clients in federal court mediations and has successfully advocated on behalf of her clients to obtain favorable resolutions. Caroline has also done some immigration visa work for private clients.
Caroline has extensive experience in the fact gathering process, taking and defending depositions and utilizing several different kinds of discovery mechanisms in order to gather the facts necessary to properly represent and defend her clients. She also has experience conducting independent investigations for municipalities. In the course of this work, Caroline has gained extensive experience in conducting dozens of interviews and compiling reports.
Representative Experience
- Successfully defended a police department and police officers in a federal court jury trial involving claims of excessive force and police brutality. The jury rendered a verdict on all counts in favor of her clients.
- Successfully defended a police department and police officers in a state court jury trial involving claims of negligence involving a horrific car accident resulting in several deaths. The jury rendered a verdict in favor of her clients.
- Successfully defended a school department and individual school employees in a state court trial involving school bullying.
- Won a favorable decision by the Rhode Island Supreme Court after making a full argument before the Rhode Island Supreme Court on the issue of Rhode Island’s Recreational Use Statute as it applies to municipalities.
- Successfully defended a municipality after winning a favorable decision by the trial judge on an issue of law regarding the public duty doctrine.
Professional and Community Development
- Actively involved in the local Federal Bar Association Chapter and the Federal Court’s Litigation Academy, currently as co-director for the Litigation Academy program.
- Caroline has been involved in a mock remote bench trial as one of two attorneys demonstrating educating attorneys’ best practices for conducting court proceedings with Zoom technology. This program was offered as a Continuing Legal Education (CLE) course by the Federal Court to encourage attorneys to conduct trials remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic.