Louise Murphy

Practice Areas

Overview

Louise Murphy is an award-winning Partner and Head of Social Housing and Regeneration with over 20 years’ experience in the social housing sector. The 2023 Inspirational Leader of the Year and Legal 500 next generation Partner has built the social housing team into a formidable unit providing registered providers of social housing with jargon free, pragmatic and results driven legal advice. Louise is a specialist housing solicitor, being regularly called upon to speak at leading industry events including the Liverpool Law Society Annual Housing Disrepair conference, the Northern Housing Conference and the Westminster Insight digital conferences.

Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI)

Louise is a mentor to all younger members of the MSB team and has guided countless trainee solicitors through their contracts enabling them to have a well rounded education and experience. She values hard work and client care making sure each trainee understands the importance of team work, collaboration and attention to detail. Louise is deeply committed to advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) within the legal profession, the social housing sector and the wider community. Louise actively participates in MSB’s EDI network, where she contributes to initiatives aimed at increasing access to legal support for underrepresented groups. Louise’s personal values are rooted in fairness and social justice, and she is particularly passionate about ensuring that vulnerable individuals have equal access to safe, secure housing - a fundamental right that underpins dignity and inclusion.

Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG)

Louise is a firm believer in giving back through many volunteer roles and projects inside and outside of MSB. For clients she has painted bungalows, spoke at schools, donated to food banks and hiked mountains. For her community she has raised funds for school music equipment, hosted community events and she sits on the board of governors at a local school along with being a member of the PTA.

Career History

Louise’s career in social housing law began in 2003 when she was employed as a paralegal after leaving university. Louise qualified as a solicitor in 2008 and went on to join a prominent legal aid firm, where she became a partner in 2010 and thereafter headed the housing department. Louise remained in this role for a number of years, developing significant technical ability and a reputation for excellence. Throughout her career, she has developed considerable litigation experience, dealing with complex cases from public law defences to mental health and capacity issues, ASB to succession. Louise joined Knox Ells in July 2017 as a Senior Associate Solicitor and the Firm’s Training Lead. Knox Ellis was acquired by MSB in 2018 and since then she has gone on to treble the size of the team, became a Partner at the firm and Head of Social Housing and Regeneration. Louise now leads the Social Housing team across a number of national offices.

Key Experience

Louise has acted on behalf of Registered Social Housing Providers in respect of a range of legal matters, from housing condition claims, complex property litigation to advice to boards on RSH Standards. In 2023, Louise won Inspirational Leader of the Year at the CIH Housing Conference awards, the biggest housing conference in Europe. In 2024, she was highlighted as a next generation lawyer in Legal 500 and one to watch in Chambers and Partners. Louise is also a member of the CIH regional group and a non-executive member of the Warrington Housing Association Board. This provides Louise practical insight into housing governance and enables her to contribute to her local community.

Education

LPC – Chester College of Law LLB (Hons) Law - Liverpool John Moores University 2005