Craig C. Martin

Craig was previously a partner at another major law firm in Chicago, where he also served as firm chair.

• Crain's Chicago Business, Who's Who (2018, 2023, 2024)
• Crain's Chicago Business, Notable Litigators & Trial Attorneys (2023)
• BTI Client Service All-Star (2022) for exemplary, client-focused legal practice
• Chambers Global – Litigation: Trial Lawyers (since 2022)
• Chambers USA – Litigation: Trial Lawyers (Nationwide) (since 2021); Litigation: General Commercial (Illinois) (since 2014)
• Chambers USA – ERISA Litigation (Nationwide) (since 2021)
• Chambers USA – Intellectual Property (Illinois) (since 2021)
• IAM Strategy 300 (2023)
• IAM Strategy 300 Global Leaders (2023)
• The Legal 500 United States – Leading Trial Lawyer (since 2019), The Legal 500 United States – Dispute Resolution - General Commercial Disputes (since 2016); Leading Lawyer (since 2017)
• The Legal 500 United States – Dispute Resolution - Corporate Investigations and White-Collar Criminal Defense (since 2017)
• The Legal 500 United States – Labor and Employment - ERISA Litigation (since 2016)
• The Legal 500 United States – Securities litigation: defense (2023)
• Benchmark Litigation – Litigation Star (2023)
• Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America -- inaugural guide to the most elite courtroom advocates in the nation (since 2023)
• The Trial Lawyer Honorary Society – Litigation Counsel of America, Fellow (since 2021)
• IAM Patent 1000 (since 2022)
• Lawyer Network Annual Award – Commercial Litigation Expert of the Year in Illinois, 2021
• Leading Lawyers Network – Top 100 Business Lawyers in Illinois, 2009, Commercial Litigation (since 2004)
• Illinois Super Lawyers - Business Litigation (since 2005)
• Best Lawyers in America – Commercial Litigation (since 2014)
• Irish Legal 100 (since 2021)
• United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Award for Excellence in Pro Bono Service, 2012, 2018 (Tobert v. Colvin)
• Chicago Magazine – "The Power 100," 2015
• Harvard Law Society of Illinois – Role Model, 2012
• American Jewish Committee – Judge Learned Hand Human Relations Award, 2011
  
   

Craig serves on the Aspen Institute board of trustees, is a member of its Executive Committee and chairs its Audit & Risk Committee. He is a member of the Lyric Opera of Chicago board of directors, its Executive Committee and chairs its Nominating and Governance Committee. He also serves on the boards of the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, the Crown Family Philanthropies, the Chicago Urban League, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, World Business Chicago and the University of Chicago Law School Advisory Council. He is a member of the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago, the Economic Club of Chicago and the National Association of Corporate Directors. 

For nearly two decades, he was a member of the Corporate Board of Directors of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Chicago, including serving as secretary, vice-chairman and as chairman from 2011 to 2014. Craig remains a Trustee at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Chicago. 

Craig teaches Advanced Trial Advocacy at Harvard Law School and Crisis Management at the Stanford Directors College.

He is a member of the Naples Roundtable, the American Law Institute, the American Bar Association, Section on Litigation, and the Richard Linn American Inn of Court. 

Publications

• Co-Author, “ERISA Benefits Litigation Answer Book,” Practising Law Institute, November 2022
• Co-Author, “Crisis Management,” Business and Commercial Litigation in Federal Courts, Fifth Edition; Thomson Reuters & The American Bar Association Section of Litigation, December 2016 and 2017, 2018 ,2019 and 2022 Supplements
• Co-Author, “Determining Necessity of Discretionary Distributions,” The Estate Planner, June 17, 2020
• Co-Author, “Making a Federal Case out of Trustee Termination,” WealthManagement.com, March 3, 2020
• Co-Author, “The Perils of Failing to Follow the Trust Instrument,” The Estate Planner, November 20, 2019
• Co-Author, “SIPCO and Covered Business Methods – Courts Continue to Struggle with PTAB Regs,” Bloomberg Law, November 15, 2019
• Co-Author, “Early Returns on Actuarial Equivalence Cases,” Employee Relations Law Journal, Winter 2019
• Co-Author, “A Trustee’s Fiduciary Duties May Extend to 529 Accounts,” WealthManagement.com, June 26, 2019
• Co-Author, “Everything Old is New Again: Stock Drop Lawsuits on the Rise,” Employee Relations Law Journal, Summer 2019
• Co-Author, “Drawing the Line Between Possible and Plausible in Breach of Fiduciary Duty Claims,” Employee Relations Law Journal, Spring 2019
• Co-Author, “Fee Awards Under ERISA – The Long and Winding Road to ‘Some Success on the Merits,’“ Employee Relations Law Journal, Autumn 2018
• Co-Author, “New Plaintiffs’ Firms Bring Increased ERISA Litigation Risks for Employers,” Employee Relations Law Journal, Summer 2018
• Co-Author, “Corporate Information Technology Transactions and Disputes,” Successful Partnering Between Inside and Outside Counsel, May 2018
• Co-Author, “What Happens After Breach of Fiduciary Duty Claims Stemming from Denials of Benefits Survive a Motion to Dismiss,” Employee Relations Law Journal, Spring 2018
• Co-Author, “Equitable Relief under ERISA Following Amara,” Employee Relations Law Journal, Winter 2017
• Co-Author, “The Upward Trend in ERISA Class Action Class Action Settlements,” Employee Relations Law Journal, Autumn 2017
• Co-Author, “Cert Denial in Carolinas Electrical Workers Retirement Plan a Win for ERISA Plan Service Providers,” Employee Relations Law Journal, Summer 2017
• Co-Author, “A Deepening Split: Enforceability of Venue Selection Clauses Under ERISA,” Employee Relations Law Journal, Spring 2017
• Co-Author, “Crisis Management,” Business and Commercial Litigation in Federal Courts, Fourth Edition; Thomson Reuters & The American Bar Association Section of Litigation, December 2016 and 2017, 2018 and 2019 Supplements
• Co-Author, “A Cautionary Note on Venue Selection Clauses in ERISA Plans,” Employee Relations Law Journal, Winter 2016
• Co-Author, "Providers Beware: Failure to Keep Track Means You Have to Pay It Back,” Employee Relations Law Journal, Autumn 2016
• Co-Author, “When the Shoe Doesn’t Fit: Provider-Plaintiffs’ Standing in the Face of Anti-Assignment Clauses,” Employee Relations Law Journal, May 9, 2016
• Co-Author, “Will the Duty to Monitor Erode ERISA’s Limitations Provisions?” Employee Relations Law Journal, Spring 2016
• Co-Author, “The ERISA Trifecta: Injury, Standing, and Equitable Relief,” Employee Relations Law Journal, Winter 2015
• Co-Author, “When Is a Church Not a Church?” Employee Relations Law Journal, Autumn 2015
• Co-Author, “A Farewell to Yard-Man,” Employee Relations Law Journal, Summer 2015
• Co-Author, "Perez v. Bruister: An Appraisal," Employee Relations Law Journal, Spring 2015

Speaking Engagements

• Participant, The Naples Roundtable, February 18-20, 2024
• Speaker, Harvard Law School Winter 2024 Trial Advocacy Workshop, January 2024
• Moderator, “Hot Topics in Trade Secrets Protection, Enforcement, and Litigation conference,” Sandpiper Partners LLC, December 14, 2023
• Panelist, “2023 Chicago Conference on Litigation Finance,” University of Chicago Law School’s Center on Law and Finance, October 26, 2023
• Panelist, The Resilient Law Firm Roundtable, Sandpiper Partners, September 27, 2023 
• Participant, The Naples Roundtable, January 15-17, 2023
• Speaker, Harvard Law School Winter 2023 Trial Advocacy Workshop, January 2023
• Moderator, 10th Annual Chicago Legal Market Conference, March 29, 2022
• Panelist, Navigating Patent-Antitrust Interface and Conflicts – Which Should Take Priority and When? The Naples Round Table, March 18, 2022
• Panelist, "ERISA Counsel and Attorney-Client Privilege: What You Don't Know About the Fiduciary Exception Could Hurt You," Strafford CLE Webinar, February 16, 2022
• Speaker, Harvard Law School Winter 2022 Trial Advocacy Workshop, January 2022
• Moderator, "Phoenix Issue IV. Antitrust" Patent Interface and Conflict in view of FTC v. Qualcomm" The Naples Round Table, February 2021
• Panelist, "Phoenix Issue II. Is There a Current Conflict between the Goals and Implementation of the Patent Laws and Antitrust Laws that Is Impeding the Effectiveness of the US Patent System" Ability to Promote Investment in Developing and Marketing New Technology?" The Naples Round Table, February 2020
• Moderator, General Counsel Roundtable, First Chair Awards Conference, August 28, 2019
• Speaker, "Luncheon and Keynote Address," Stanford Directors" College, June 25, 2019
• Moderator, 8th Annual Chicago Legal Market Conference, June 18, 2019
• Panelist, "Phoenix Issue VI. Is There a Current Conflict Between Implementation of the Patent Laws and Antitrust Laws?" The Naples Round Table, February 2019
• Panelist, "Political Changes Affecting Our Business," Aon Global Law Conference, March 2018
• Panelist, "When Disaster Strikes ... From VW, to BP, to GM, to WF, and Beyond,” Stanford Directors" College, June 27, 2017
• Panelist, "Challenges of Commercial Litigation," International Legal Alliance Summit (ILISA), June 15, 2017
• Panelist, "Trade Secrets Protection: How to Respond Effectively When a Company Becomes A Victim of American Intellectual Property Theft," Kirkland & Ellis, June 9, 2017
• Speaker, "Compensation and Staffing as Levers of Cultural Changes," Global Law Leaders Conference, October 3, 2017
• Moderator, 14th National Forum on ERISA Litigation, American Conference Institute, March 1, 2017
• Panelist, "When Disaster Strikes," Stanford Directors" College, June 21, 2016
• Panelist, American Conference Institute" 11th National Forum on ERISA Litigation, March 1, 2016