Joseph W. Martini

Overview

Joseph W. Martini joined Spears Manning after more than thirty years of practice, including eleven years at one of Connecticut’s most venerable law firms, where he chaired the firm’s white collar defense, investigations and corporate compliance group and served on its executive committee. Joe also spent almost a decade serving as an Assistant United States Attorney. Joe is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and a veteran trial lawyer, having tried more than 20 criminal and commercial cases in federal and state courts and before arbitration panels. Joe began his litigation career in the New York office of White & Case LLP.

A seasoned advocate, Mr. Martini regularly represents corporate executives, government officials, major national and international public companies, prominent privately held entities, and individuals in sophisticated criminal and civil matters involving the U.S. Department of Justice (and U.S. Attorney’s Offices throughout the United States), the Connecticut State’s Attorney and Attorney General and the Securities and Exchange Commission, and other federal and state regulators, such as the CFTC, FINRA, FAA, OSHA and the Connecticut Department of Banking.

Mr. Martini’s cases have involved allegations of health care and financial fraud, false claims act violations, political corruption, insider trading and securities fraud, violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, RICO, tax fraud, mortgage fraud, bankruptcy fraud, mail and wire fraud, money laundering, currency transaction and Bank Secrecy Act matters, environmental crimes, trade secret theft, municipal corruption, fraud in the defense contracting industry and occupational safety and health (OSHA) matters.

Entities facing crisis situations often retain Mr. Martini to conduct internal investigations, and he has regularly done so in the financial, health care, manufacturing, construction and defense industries. Mr. Martini also has experience representing clients in matters involving the United Nations, and before hospital boards of directors and hearing panels in connection with disciplinary and other administrative proceedings. He also has experience conducting sexual assault and abuse investigations, including Title IX investigations, and defending matters brought by the U.S. Department of Education.

As a federal prosecutor, Mr. Martini received numerous awards and commendations, including the Department of Justice’s prestigious Director’s Award for Superior Performance as an Assistant U.S. Attorney given for his team’s pioneering use of the federal RICO statute in federal prosecutions of violent street gangs in Connecticut. He was also a trial instructor at the FBI Sensitive Operations and Undercover School at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia.

Mr. Martini is listed in Chambers USA in the category of Litigation: White Collar Crime and Government Investigations. Mr. Martini also has been chosen by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America in the category of White Collar Criminal Defense. He has also received an AV® Preeminent™ peer rating from Martindale-Hubbell, and Benchmark Litigation has recognized him as a “Litigation Star” in the area of White Collar Crime. Mr. Martini has also been recognized by Super Lawyers as a top rated attorney in the area of White Collar Crime.

Mr. Martini is also an accomplished appellate lawyer, having briefed and argued over 20 cases before the United States Court of Appeals and New York and Connecticut state appellate courts.

Mr. Martini previously served as the Editor-in-Chief of the American Bar Association, Section on Litigation, Committee on Criminal Litigation Newsletter. Mr. Martini also serves as a Member of the Local Grievance Panel for the Stamford-Norwalk Judicial District. Mr. Martini is an active member of the Connecticut Bar Association, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the Federal Bar Council and is a James W. Cooper Fellow of the Connecticut Bar Association. Mr. Martini is also a member of the Criminal Justice Act panel for the District of Connecticut, and served two terms as a member of the CJA Panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Mr. Martini frequently lectures on white collar matters before groups in the health care, manufacturing and defense industries.

Mr. Martini graduated cum laude with a B.A. from Gettysburg College and received his J.D. cum laude from Brooklyn Law School.