Roman Martinez is Global Chair of the firm’s Supreme Court & Appellate Practice. He represents clients in their highest-stakes appeals in federal and state appellate courts around the country. Roman has argued 16 cases in the Supreme Court, and was recently the subject of the Bloomberg Law documentary, Supreme Advocacy: What It Takes to Argue at the Supreme Court. He previously served as Deputy Office Managing Partner of the Washington, D.C. office.
Roman handles civil and criminal matters involving a wide range of constitutional, statutory, and administrative law issues.
Roman ’s Supreme Court experience includes important cases in the fields of the First Amendment, administrative law, arbitration, copyright, election law, patent law, criminal law, civil rights, employment, and civil and criminal procedure. In addition, he has argued dozens of appeals in the D.C., First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, Ninth, and Federal Circuits, as well as in New York, California, New Jersey, Ohio, and Tennessee appellate courts, among others. Roman also regularly participates in district court litigation raising complex questions of federal law.
During the Supreme Court’s 2023 term, Roman secured a significant victory for one set of petitioners in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, in which the Court overruled the Chevron deference doctrine. He regularly represents clients bringing constitutional and Administrative Procedure Act (APA) challenges to unlawful agency action. The Court recently appointed him as amicus curiae to brief and argue a major First Amendment campaign-finance case in defense of the judgment below.
In the 2022 and 2024 Supreme Court Terms, Roman prevailed in Perez v. Sturgis Public Schools and A.J.T. v. Osseo School District, in both of which the Court expanded legal protections for children with disabilities. His other recent victories in the Supreme Court include ZF Automotive v. Luxshare, in which the Supreme 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, Roman was part of teams that successfully represented Facebook and the Government of Guam in unanimous Supreme Court victories under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and the Comprehensive Environmental, Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA). In 2020, he successfully persuaded the Court to invalidate portions of TCPA under the First Amendment.
Roman has prevailed in 33 of the last 38 cases he has argued to a decision in the federal appellate courts. His wins have included:
In 2016, Roman rejoined Latham after serving as an Assistant to the Solicitor General at the US Department of Justice. Earlier in his career, he 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, Roman 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.
Roman serves on the US Chamber of Commerce’s Administrative Law & Government Litigation Advisory Committee, and the Federalist Society’s Administrative Law & Regulation Practice Group. He previously served as a member of the D.C. Circuit’s Advisory Committee on Procedures, the US District Court for the District of Columbia’s Committee on Grievances, and on the Advisory Council of the Federal Circuit.
Roman’s commentary has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and other publications, and he has appeared on PBS NewsHour and other television programs to discuss the Supreme Court.
Roman’s representative experience includes:
*Matter handled prior to joining Latham
Firm recognized by Law360 for arguing four cases before the US Supreme Court and securing precedent-setting victories.
A team of Latham litigators once again secured a preliminary injunction allowing construction on the nearly finished, fully permitted Revolution Wind project to resume and blocking the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s stop work order.
For the fourth year in a row, Bloomberg Law has recognized the firm’s pro bono work, including our role in securing a precedent-setting victory for children with disabilities as well as advising Green Era on transformative renewable energy solutions in Chicago.