E. Martin Estrada

A Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, Martin has tried over 30 federal and state cases and arbitrations, argued over a dozen appeals before the U.S. Court of Appeals, and represented Fortune 500 companies and prominent individuals in some of their most significant and sensitive matters.

Before returning to the firm, Martin was appointed by President Joseph Biden to serve as United States Attorney for the Central District of California, the largest judicial district in the country with almost 20 million residents. There, he led the office in handling some of the most high-profile cases in the country, including the prosecution of those responsible for the death of actor Matthew Perry, the conviction of the translator for Shohei Ohtani for stealing over $16 million from the baseball superstar, and the prosecution of celebrity lawyer Tom Girardi.

As U.S. Attorney, Martin pursued impact litigation to promote public safety and the rule of law, prioritizing matters involving civil rights, hate crimes, public corruption, corporate crime, national security, human trafficking, and violent crime. He created new structures in the office to address this work, establishing the Corporate Crime and Securities Fraud Strike Force, the Vulnerable Communities Task Force, the Investigative Division, the Operation Safe Cities violent crime initiative, and the Figueroa Corridor Human Trafficking Initiative. Martin also initiated criminal justice reform measures, including creating one of the first federal conviction integrity committees and a new executive position of Chief of Ethics and Post-Conviction Review, and expanding the district’s pioneering Conviction and Sentence Alternatives (CASA) diversion program for low-level offenders.

Widely recognized for his excellence in advocacy, Martin has been named one of the Top 100 Lawyers in California by the Daily Journal, and among the “Top Litigators in Los Angeles,” a “Minority Leader of Influence,” and one of the “Most Influential Minority Lawyers in Los Angeles” by the Los Angeles Business Journal. He is also a two-time recipient of the California Lawyer Attorney of the Year (CLAY) award, and has received many other recognitions for his work, including awards from the Federal Bar Association, the Minority Corporate Counsel Association, and the Daily Journal.

Martin has been deeply committed to pro bono work over his career. Among other notable cases, he was the lead attorney for the Bruce family in the Bruce’s Beach litigation, which allowed the County of Los Angeles to return beachside land to the descendants of a Black family who had the land taken away from them based on racial animus in the 1920s; he led the trial team in Martinez v. New Mexico, a first-of-its-kind education rights victory against the State of New Mexico that was recognized by the National Law Journal; and he partnered with the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles to create a virtual domestic-violence restraining order clinic during the COVID-19 pandemic.

He has served as a board member for the Federal Bar Association, the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, and the Alliance for Children’s Rights, and was a member of the State Bar Judicial Nominees Evaluation Commission (JNE).

Martin began his law career as a clerk for Judge Robert J. Timlin of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California and then for Judge Arthur L. Alarcón of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Moving into private practice in 2004, he served as an associate at Munger, Tolles & Olson.

In 2007, Martin transitioned to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, where he served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney. During his time in this position, he served as the Deputy Chief of the Violent and Organized Crime Section and the International Organized Crime Coordinator. His prosecution of a broad array of significant criminal cases earned him numerous recognitions, including the Department of Justice’s prestigious Director’s Award for Superior Performance. Martin returned in 2014 to Munger, Tolles & Olson, where he worked as a partner until assuming the role of U.S. Attorney.

Martin received his J.D., with distinction, from Stanford Law School and his B.A., magna cum laude, from the University of California at Irvine.

Martin’s family emigrated from Guatemala, and he is fluent in Spanish.