John S. Martin

Judge John S. Martin Jr served as a United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York from 1990 to 2003. Judge Martin’s distinguished legal career has spanned more than six decades. Before his judicial appointment, Judge Martin served as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 1980 to 1983, leading one of the nation’s most prominent prosecutorial offices. Earlier in his career, he was an Assistant U.S. Attorney and Chief Appellate Attorney in the SDNY. He also served as an Assistant to the U.S. Solicitor General from 1967-1969. Judge Martin additionally held positions in private practice at several prominent firms, including Debevoise & Plimpton and Schulte Roth & Zabel, and was a founding partner of Martin & Obermaier.

Following his retirement from the bench, Judge Martin remained active in legal practice, serving an arbitrator and consultant in matters involving commercial contracts, executive compensation, insurance coverage, and construction claims—routinely handling disputes valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Judge Martin is a graduate of Manhattan College (B.A., 1957) and Columbia Law School (LL.B., 1961). He clerked for Judge Leonard P. Moore on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Judge Martin is the recipient of the Emory Buckner Award from the Federal Bar Council and the Judge Edward Weinfeld Award from the New York County Lawyers Association. Though retired from active practice as of 2020, he continues to serve as a sought-after arbitrator and advisor on complex litigation.