November 18, 2022Recognition
Litigation Trailblazer: Roman Martinez
Deputy Office Managing Partner in the Washington, D.C. office named to the annual list of leading litigators from across the US.
Roman Martinez is the Deputy Office Managing Partner in the Washington, D.C. office. As a member of the firm’s Supreme Court & Appellate Practice, he focuses primarily on appeals in the Supreme Court of the United States, the United States Courts of Appeals, and state appellate courts. Mr. Martinez has handled civil and criminal matters involving a wide range of constitutional, statutory, and administrative law issues, and he has argued cases in the US Supreme Court and the D.C., Second, Third, Fourth, Sixth, Ninth, and Federal Circuits, and the New York, California, New Jersey, Ohio, and Tennessee appellate courts, among others.
Mr. Martinez’s practice encompasses civil and criminal matters spanning virtually all areas of law. In 2016, he rejoined Latham after serving as an Assistant to the Solicitor General at the US Department of Justice. In that role, he represented the United States in litigation before the Supreme Court and advised the Solicitor General on the government’s appellate litigation throughout the country.
Mr. Martinez has personally argued 12 cases in the Supreme Court, including important cases in the fields of the First Amendment, arbitration, copyright, patent law, criminal law, civil rights, employment, and civil and criminal procedure. He has filed more than 75 briefs in the Supreme Court involving a wide range of legal issues, including trademark, tax, securities, intellectual property, criminal, environmental, education, civil rights, and First Amendment law.
In the 2021 Term, Mr. Martinez argued and prevailed in ZF Automotive v. Luxshare, in which the court clarified that US courts lack authority to grant discovery for use in private commercial arbitrations conducted abroad, and Vega v. Tekoh, in which the Court clarified the scope of civil liability for violations of Miranda v. Arizona. In the 2020 Term, he was part of teams successfully representing Facebook and the Government of Guam in unanimous Supreme Court victories under the TCPA and Comprehensive Environmental, Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) statutes.
Since November 2018, Mr. Martinez has persuaded the Supreme Court to grant certiorari in 10 cases. He has also repeatedly persuaded the Court to deny certiorari in high profile cases, including the State of Connecticut’s criminal prosecution of Michael Skakel. In the ongoing 2022 Term, Mr. Martinez is representing the Andy Warhol Foundation in a key case addressing the standard for invoking the fair-use defense to copyright infringement.
Over the past four years, Mr. Martinez’s other appellate wins have included:
- Seven victories in securities class actions or derivative lawsuits, in the Second, Sixth, and Ninth Circuits
- Victory overturning US$37 million adverse jury verdict based on asbestos-related product liability claims, in New Jersey Appellate Division
- Victories overturning US$31 million adverse jury verdict based on fraud and contract claims, in Tennessee Supreme Court and Court of Appeals
- Victory overturning US$23 million adverse jury verdict based on defamation claim arising from shareholder proxy fight, in Fourth Circuit
- Victory in antitrust class-action alleging extraterritorial violations of Sherman Act, in Second Circuit
- En banc victory unanimously overturning (11-0) circuit precedent restricting veterans’ rights to challenge unlawful action by Department of Veterans Affairs, in Federal Circuit
Before joining Latham, Mr. Martinez served as a law clerk to Chief Justice John G. Roberts of the Supreme Court of the United States and to then-Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh of the D.C. Circuit.
From 2002 to 2005, Mr. Martinez served as an advisor on the Iraqi political and constitutional process, in various roles at the White House, at the US Embassy and Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq, and at the US Department of Defense. He received the Secretary of Defense Medal for the Global War on Terrorism and the US Department of Defense Distinguished Public Service Award for his service in Iraq.
Mr. Martinez serves on the US Chamber of Commerce’s Administrative Law & Government Litigation Advisory Committee, and he is a member of the Edward Coke Appellate Inn of Court. He previously served as a member of the D.C. Circuit’s Advisory Committee on Procedures, and the US District Court for the District of Columbia’s Committee on Grievances.
Mr. Martinez’s commentary has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and other publications, and he has appeared on the PBS NewsHour and other television programs to discuss the Supreme Court.
