Trial Ready Litigation Boutique
Expert legal guidance to protect your rights!
Trial Ready Litigation Boutique
Expert legal guidance to protect your rights!
About Martin Law Offices, PLLC
Christopher E. Martin, JD, MBA - Managing Partner and Founder of Martin Law Offices, PLLC
Christopher E. Martin, after serving for more than 20 years as one of the most successful and longest serving Senior Trial Counsels for the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), has now started Martin Law Offices PLLC to ensure that your legal rights are protected.
Mr. Martin is a trial ready federal litigator who specializes in Securities Regulation and Litigation; Regulatory and White-Collar Defense, such as cases involving FINRA, CFTC, State Blue Sky Laws, and DOJ; Whistleblower Claims; Fiduciary Cases, such as cases involving Receivers, Corporate Monitors, Distribution Agents and serving as a Trustee for trusts who invest in securities; Crypto Litigation; Bankruptcy Adversary Proceedings, Expert Opinions and Testimony, and Complex Commercial Litigations, such as cases involving officers and directors, shareholders, accountants, investment advisers, private offerings, lawyers, hedge funds, brokers and dealers, issuers, underwriters, or analysts.
Contact me today so I can use my expertise and extensive knowledge to protect you or your business when it matters the most.
Christopher E. Martin's Background and Experience
Senior Trial Counsel, Securities and Exchange Commission, Regional Offices, Denver, CO and Miami, FL, April 2003–September 2025.
Practice focused on successfully representing the SEC during its investigations and in federal courts regarding potential violations of the federal securities laws.
Accomplishments:
- Strong federal court skills, including serving as first chair during trials and emergency proceedings, conducting vigorous cross-examinations, authoring winning motions, and effectively promulgating and responding to discovery.
- Extensive knowledge of Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Federal Rules of Evidence, SEC’s policies and procedures, the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, SEC Investigations and Examinations, Issuer registration statements and periodic filings, Forms ADV, EB-5 programs, and GAAP, PECOB and FASB accounting standards.
- Worked closely with the DOJ, FBI, DHS, FBI, FINRA, expert witnesses, distribution agents, and receivers to effectively administer and prosecute complex federal litigations.
- Successfully served as a Court appointed Co-Distribution Agent for a Fair Fund that distributed more than $30 million to victims.
- Obtained through my litigation skills more than $300 million for victims.
Awards and Honors: More than 15 Special Act or Enforcement Director Awards and selected as one of South Florida’s Top Government Attorneys.
Senior Associate Attorney, Beus Gilbert PLLC, Phoenix, AZ, April 1998-April 2003.
Practice focused on being an integral member of winning trial teams in district, state, and bankruptcy courts regarding complex commercial litigations.
Accomplishments:
- Forcefully deposed numerous witnesses, including auditors, analysts, underwriters, officers and directors, and expert witnesses.
- Powerful courtroom, research, discovery, and writing skills.
- Made significant contributions to clients recovering more than $50 million.
EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND:
Boston University Law School, Boston, MA, Juris Doctorate, 1994–97 (top third of my graduating class).
Boston University School of Management, Boston, MA, Master of Business Administration, 1995-97. Accelerated JD/MBA dual degree program by completing it in three years, instead of usual four years.
Whittier College, Whittier, CA, Bachelor of Arts, Magna Cum Laude (top 3% of his graduating class – GPA 3.81), 1989-93. Majors: Economics and Political Science.
Awards and Activities: Outstanding Economics Graduate, Dean's Honor Roll, 1989-93,
Intercollegiate Soccer, 1989-1993 (Team Captain, 1993), and Danish International
Studies Program, Copenhagen, Denmark, 1992.
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS:
- Member of AZ and OR (inactive) State Bars, 1997–to the present.
- Member of United States District Courts – Ariz.; Colo.; E.D.N.Y.; N.D. Ill. (also member of N.D. Ill. Trial Bar); Neb.; S.D. Fla.; & S.D.N.Y.
- Member of the Federal Bar Association
SYNOPSIS OF OTHER EXPERIENCE:
Detail with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: Washington, D.C., August 2021 – January 2022.
- Worked in a CFPB Enforcement Unit investigating a large FinTech company where he successfully developed and implemented an investigative plan and took investigative testimonies.
Adjunct Law Professor: Florida International University Law School, Miami, FL, August 2013 – December 2018.
- Securities Law Enforcement – taught a semester long law school class regarding enforcement of the federal securities laws.
Extensive Training:
- National Institute for Trial Advocacy (“NITA”) – Awarded NITA Advocate Designation.
- Participated in numerous SEC Chief Enforcement Attorneys and SEC Trial Lawyers Conferences.
- Presented at the 2018 North American Securities Administrators Association Enforcement Training Conference regarding the benefits of cooperation in multi-jurisdictional litigations.
Miscellaneous:
Mr. Martin has been quoted by Forbes, NY Times and other news outlets regarding federal securities law issues.
He also enjoys hiking with his dogs, following his favorite sports teams, chess, and spending time with his family.
Representative Matters for Christopher E. Martin
SEC v. Feingold, et al., (S.D. Fla. 2025)
Mr. Martin served as lead trial counsel for the SEC in this case alleging a more than $1 billion private offering fraud (where the SEC obtained significant emergency relief) involving multiple offerings regarding different business lines, including crypto, merchant cash advances (“MCA’s”), and real estate, and allegations of GAAP violations and lack of auditor independence.
SEC v. Cumberland DRW LLC (N.D. Ill. 2024)
Mr. Martin served as lead trial counsel for the SEC in a case alleging that Cumberland acted as an unregistered dealer by offering and selling more than $2 billion of crypto assets that the SEC alleged were securities.
SEC v. Bell, (D. Colo. 2024)
Mr. Martin served as lead trial counsel for the SEC in an alleged offering fraud involving numerous victims, including professional athletes, where he worked closely with the Department of Justice and FBI.
SEC v. Austal Limited, et al., and SEC v. Perciavalle, et al., (S.D. Ala. 2023)
Mr. Martin served as lead trial counsel for the SEC in complex accounting fraud cases involving allegations of false public filings and misrepresentations to an independent auditor by a military supplier to the U.S. Department of Defense.
SEC v. Kubler, et al., (D. Neb. 2023)
Mr. Martin served as lead trial counsel for the SEC in an alleged Ponzi-scheme case where he successfully obtained emergency relief that shut down fraud and froze assets, and obtained significant monetary judgments.
SEC v. Stone, et al., (S.D.N.Y. 2022)
Mr. Martin served as co-lead trial counsel for the SEC in an alleged multi-million-dollar insider-trading case, where the SEC obtained sizeable monetary judgments.
SEC v. Sugranes, et al., (S.D. Fla. 2021)
Mr. Martin served as co-lead trial counsel for the SEC in an alleged cherry-picking case where he successfully obtained emergency relief that stopped the fraud and froze assets, and allowed the SEC to obtain industry bars and large financial remedies.
SEC v. Coggins, et al., (S.D. Fla. 2020)
Mr. Martin served as co-lead trial counsel for the SEC in a case involving allegations of fraud involving hedge funds, where we obtained emergency relief that stopped the fraud and froze assets, and we obtained for the SEC favorable final judgments.
SEC v. Cetera Advisers, LLC, et al., (D. Colo. 2019)
Mr. Martin served as co-lead trial counsel for the SEC in case involving beaches of fiduciary duties by registered investment advisers, where we defeated a motion to dismiss and obtained a final judgment for the SEC that provided more than $8 million to victims.
SEC v. 1 Global Capital LLC, et al., (S.D. Fla. 2019)
Mr. Martin served as co-lead trial counsel for the SEC in offering fraud involving MCAs, where we successfully convinced the judge to shut down the more than $200 million fraudulent offering, appoint a receiver, and obtained for the SEC large final judgments against the wrongdoers.
Representative Matters for Christopher E. Martin (cont.)
SEC v. Jeffrey Brooks, Representative of the Estate of David H. Brooks, (S.D. Fla. 2017)
Mr. Martin served as co-lead trial counsel for the SEC in a more than $100 million case involving allegations of a massive accounting fraud, where we defeated the Motion to Dismiss the SEC’s disgorgement and SOX 304 claims and worked closely with several criminal and civil federal agencies, and he took the lead in multi-party complex settlement negotiations that resulted in more than $120 million being paid to victims;
SEC v. Quiros, et al., (S.D. Fla. 2016)
Mr. Martin served as co-lead trial counsel for the SEC, in a high-profile emergency case, involving seven EB-5 offerings and hundreds of millions of dollars, where we convinced the judge to grant an asset freeze and to appoint a receiver, crafted winning pleadings that convinced the court to deny the Motion to Dismiss and grant the SEC’s motion for preliminary injunction that continued the asset freeze and the receivership, worked closely with DHS and the Regional Center, and we obtained a more than $83 million final judgment that provided significant relief to victims such as allowing the receiver to complete construction projects, which allowed victims to obtain their green cards.
SEC v. BIH Corp., et al., (M.D. Fla. 2014)
Mr. Martin served as co-lead trial counsel for the SEC in an alleged pump and dump case where we obtained for the SEC a jury verdict on all counts and the judge ordered the remaining defendant to pay more than $500,000.
SEC v. City of Miami, et al., (S.D. Fla. 2013)
Mr. Martin served as trial counsel, in a municipal bond case, where he authored the SEC’s Response that defeated the City of Miami’s Motion to Dismiss.
SEC v. Stiefel Laboratories. Inc., et al., (S.D. Fla. 2011)
Mr. Martin served as co-lead trial counsel for the SEC in a case involving allegations of fraudulent buybacks at artificially low prices by a large private pharmaceutical company while it was in the process of being acquired for a substantial premium by international pharmaceutical company, where we obtained more than $30 million for victims. Mr. Martin also successfully served as a district court appointed Distribution Agent to a Fair Fund that distributed more than $30 million to victims.
SEC v. Huff, et al., (S.D. Fla. 2010)
Mr. Martin served as sole trial counsel for the SEC in accounting fraud and disclosure case involving a registered company, where he obtained for the SEC a more than $13 million trial verdict.
SEC v. K.W. Brown, et al., 555 F. Supp.2d 1275 (S.D. Fla. 2007)
Mr. Martin served as lead trial counsel for the SEC in the first successful district court action by the SEC involving cherry-picking, where he obtained for the SEC a more than $11 million trial verdict.
SEC v. Lauer, et al., (S.D. Fla. 2003)
Mr. Martin served as sole trial counsel for the SEC in a $1 billion hedge fund fraud (at the time, the largest hedge fund case ever brought by the agency), where the SEC obtained emergency relief to shut-down the fraud, appoint a receiver, and freeze assets, and he obtained Orders holding the individual defendant in contempt for violating asset freeze and discovery orders, and the court sanctioned him by prohibiting from testifying in his own defense, and by requiring him to repay funds he had diverted from the asset freeze. Mr. Martin also authored the SEC’s Motion for Summary Judgment that resulted in the Court ordering the individual defendant to pay more than $64 million.
Complex Commercial Litigations
While in private practice before joining the SEC, Mr. Martin successfully worked on a number complex commercial litigations (in district and bankruptcy courts and state courts) where he represented bankruptcy trustees and institutional creditors in high stake litigations involving officers and directors, shareholders, accountants, investment advisers, lawyers, brokers and dealers, issuers, underwriters, or analysts. In these cases, he made significant contributions to clients recovering more than $50 million.