Latham & Watkins LLP

Roman Martinez, former Deputy Office Managing Partner of the Washington, D.C. office, represents clients in their highest-stakes appeals in the Supreme Court of the United States, as well as in federal and state appellate courts around the country.

Roman handles civil and criminal matters involving a wide range of constitutional, statutory, and administrative law issues.

Roman has argued 14 cases in the Supreme Court, including important cases in the fields of the First Amendment, administrative arbitration, copyright, 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, 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.

In the 2022 Supreme Court term, Roman prevailed in Perez v. Sturgis Public Schools, in 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 Comprehensive Environmental, Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) statutes. In 2020, he successfully persuaded the Court to invalidate portions of TCPA under the First Amendment.

Roman has prevailed in 20 of the last 22 cases he has argued to a decision in the federal courts of appeals. Over the past six years, Roman's appellate victories have included:

• • Thirteen victories in securities fraud cases, in the First, Second, Fifth, Sixth, and Ninth Circuits, including a 6-5 en banc victory upholding a forum-selection clause limiting derivative claims to Delaware court
  • Victory overturning a US$37 million adverse jury verdict based on asbestos-related product liability claims, in the New Jersey Appellate Division
  • Victories overturning a US$31 million adverse jury verdict based on fraud and contract claims, in Tennessee Supreme Court and Court of Appeals
  • Victory overturning a US$23 million adverse jury verdict based on a defamation claim arising from a shareholder proxy fight, in the Fourth Circuit
  • Victory in an antitrust class action alleging extraterritorial violations of the Sherman Act, in the Second Circuit
  • Victory overturning trial court’s rejection of L.A. County pension fund’s plenary authority to control personnel and administration under California Constitution;
  • En banc victory unanimously overturning (11-0) circuit precedent restricting veterans’ rights to challenge unlawful action by the Department of Veterans Affairs, in the Federal Circuit

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, on the Advisory Council of the Federal Circuit, 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 and the US District Court for the District of Columbia’s Committee on Grievances.

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.