About Joel F.
Joel F. Murray built his legal foundation at several institutions. He earned a J.D. from the University of California, Davis in 2008 after completing an M.S. in Philosophy and Public Policy at the London School of Economics in 2007. He began his undergraduate studies at the University of Washington, graduating in 2003 with a B.A. in Political Science (with Distinction) and a second field in Economics. He later spent time as a visiting student at Georgetown University Law Center in 2011.
His early legal and policy work combined public service, tribal law, and campaign communications. While still in law school he held internships and externships that included work for the United States Senate in 2010 and a legal fellowship in the Senate in 2011. In 2009 he served as a law clerk for the Tulalip Tribes. He also gained experience outside traditional legal roles, serving as Communications Director for the YES on EHJR 4204 campaign in 2007 and as Young Voters Outreach Coordinator for the NO on I-920 effort in 2006.
Murray’s private practice résumé shows several returns to familiar settings. He listed MDK Law as an employer in 2011. He worked at JFM Law in 2019 and again in 2023, and he spent time at McKean Smith in 2022. Those positions have placed him in court and administrative settings across Washington state and in federal forums.
He holds a license to practice law from the Washington State Bar Association and is an active member of that association. Murray is also a member of the Clark County Bar Association, a membership that dates from 2024 and continues. His admissions include the state of Washington and federal courts, specifically the Ninth Circuit, the Eastern and Western Districts of Washington, and the Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Washington.
Murray’s background mixes public-sector experience, tribal work, and campaigns alongside private practice. That range has exposed him to statutory and administrative processes, to litigation in federal and state courts, and to the communications demands of public campaigns. Colleagues have noted his ability to move between those settings without losing sight of procedural detail or courtroom requirements.
He currently practices at JFM Law, handling matters in Washington state and in the federal courts where he is admitted.
