Matthew Martens represents clients in high-stakes criminal and civil matters from investigation through, if necessary, trial. He has defended clients in investigations by the SEC, CFTC, PCAOB, FINRA, CFPB, state attorneys general and the US Department of Justice. In 2017, he obtained a complete dismissal with prejudice of an SEC enforcement action alleging securities fraud that was brought against a prominent public official in federal court in Texas. Martens also has significant experience defending clients in consumer fraud actions, having successfully defended clients at trial in both a consumer fraud class action (2014) and a consumer fraud enforcement action brought by a state Attorney General (2019). In all, Martens has more than 20 jury trials in both state and federal courts in New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, Florida, Illinois and California. He is one of the few lawyers who has appeared—and won—at trial at “all four tables”: civil plaintiff, civil defendant, criminal prosecution and criminal defendant.
He joined WilmerHale after a long career of government service, including both as Chief Litigation Counsel for the SEC’s Division of Enforcement during the Obama Administration and earlier as Chief of Staff for the Criminal Division at the US Department of Justice.
At the SEC, Martens led the Enforcement Division’s litigation program, managing cases nationwide and supervising a trial unit of approximately 40 attorneys in Washington DC, as well as coordinating the activity of litigators throughout the SEC’s 11 regional offices. He personally developed and directed the Commission’s nationwide litigation response to the Supreme Court’s decision in Janus Capital, for which he received the SEC’s prestigious Chairman’s Award for Excellence.
During the Bush administration, Martens was Chief of Staff and Counsel to then- Assistant Attorney General Michael Chertoff in the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division. Martens was also an Assistant US Attorney (AUSA) in the US Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina, eventually serving as Deputy Criminal Chief, where he supervised the white-collar/general crimes unit.
Martens began his legal career serving as a law clerk to the Honorable David B. Sentelle of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and to the Honorable William H. Rehnquist of the US Supreme Court. Martens is also a Certified Public Accountant (Registered) in Illinois.
Updated Sep 2024
