E. Martin Estrada

Martin Estrada is a partner at the law firm of Munger, Tolles, & Olson LLP, where his practice focuses on complex litigation and investigations. Before returning to the firm, Mr. Estrada served from 2022 to 2025 as the United States Attorney for the Central District of California, which is based in Los Angeles and is the largest judicial district in the country, with almost 20 million residents.

Mr. Estrada began his law career as a clerk for Judge Robert J. Timlin of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California and then for Judge Arthur L. Alarcn of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Moving into private practice in 2004, Mr. Estrada served as an associate at Munger, Tolles & Olson.

In 2007, Mr. Estrada transitioned to the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Central District of California, where he served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney. During his time in this position, he served as the Deputy Chief of the Violent and Organized Crime Section and the International Organized Crime Coordinator. His prosecution of a broad array of significant criminal cases earned him numerous commendations, including the Directors Award for Superior Performance from the Department of Justice. In 2014, Mr. Estrada returned to Munger, Tolles & Olson, where he worked as a partner before being named United States Attorney for the Central District of California.

Mr. Estrada has repeatedly been recognized for his advocacy, having been named a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, one of the Top 100 Lawyers in California by the Daily Journal, and among the Top Litigators in Los Angeles, a Minority Leader of Influence, and one of the Most Influential Minority Lawyers in Los Angeles by the Los Angeles Business Journal. He is also a two- time recipient of the California Lawyer Attorney of the Year (CLAY) award and has received widespread recognition, including awards from the Federal Bar Association, the Minority Corporate Counsel Association, and the Daily Journal.

Mr. Estrada has been deeply committed to pro bono work throughout his career. Among other notable cases, he was the lead attorney for the Bruce family in the Bruces Beach litigation, which allowed the County of Los Angeles to return beach-side land to the descendants of a Black family whose land had been taken from them based on racial animus in the 1920s. He also led the trial team in Martinez v. New Mexico, a first-of-its-kind education rights victory against the State of New Mexico; and he partnered with the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles to create a virtual domestic-violence restraining order clinic during the pandemic. He has served as a board member for the Federal Bar Association, the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, and the Alliance for Childrens Rights, and was a member of the State Bar Judicial Nominations Evaluations Commission (JNE).

As United States Attorney, Mr. Estrada pursued impact litigation to promote public safety and the rule of law, prioritizing matters involving civil rights, hate crimes, public corruption, corporate crime, national security, human trafficking, and violent crime. He focused the office on impact cases that bettered the lives of those who are most vulnerable and who do not always have a voice. Among other things, Mr. Estrada established the Figueroa Corridor Human Trafficking Initiative, targeting those who exploit children; Operation Safe Cities, addressing gun crimes against victims in neglected communities; the new position of Environmental Justice Coordinator, bringing a civil-rights approach to environmental violations; the Vulnerable Communities Task Force, focusing on fraud against older adults, immigrants, indigent individuals, and other vulnerable victims; and the Fentanyl Initiative, in which his office prosecuted more cases involving deaths of children and young people caused by drugs than any other district.

Mr. Estrada led the office in handling some of the most high-profile cases in the country, including the prosecution of those responsible for the death of actor Matthew Perry; the conviction of the translator for Shohei Ohtani for stealing over $16 million from the baseball superstar; the prosecution of celebrity lawyer Tom Girardi; and the apprehension, conviction, and sentencing of the Pico-Robertson shooter, who sought to murder two Orthodox Jewish men based on religious and ethnic animus. He also initiated important criminal justice reform measures, including creating one of the first federal conviction integrity committees and a new executive position of Chief of Ethics and Post- Conviction Review. He also expanded the districts pioneering Conviction and Sentencing Alternatives (CASA) diversion program for low-level offenders.

Mr. Estrada received his J.D., with distinction, from Stanford Law School in 2002 and his B.A. magna cum laude, from the University of California at Irvine in 1998. His family emigrated to the United States from Guatemala, and he is fluent in Spanish.

Experience:

PG&E in defending against criminal charges and an investigation related to the Zogg wildfire in Shasta County, California.

Heavyweight Boxer Deontay Wilder in trying an arbitration and obtaining injunctive relief ordering a rematch of his bout with heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.

Amgen in defending against employment claims filed in state and federal court in Puerto Rico.

BNSF Railway in federal multidistrict litigation regarding alleged price-fixing regarding fuel-surcharge pricing in the rail industry.

Southern California Edison in obtaining summary judgment in complex-designated, mass tort litigation filed by over 100 plaintiffs claiming injuries based on exposure to stray voltage.

Plains All American Pipeline in federal class action litigation based on the Refugio Beach oil release of May 2015.

Booth Ranches, LLC in a trial successfully defeating claims of breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duties, and fraud related to a property dispute.

Onyx Pharmaceuticals in a complex-designated trial against insurance carriers for failure to cover an underlying securities settlement.

LG Electronics in federal multidistrict litigation in one of the largest antitrust cases in the country, involving claims of foreign price-fixing conduct.

Norton Simon Museum in obtaining summary judgment in a dispute involving the ownership of two paintings in the museums collection. The victory was named among the Daily Journals Top Verdicts.

The former CFO of SunEdison, in successfully defeating federal multidistrict litigation regarding securities claims related to SunEdisons collapse and bankruptcy.

Latino and Native American children and parents in a three-month trial against the State of New Mexico, which led to a first-of-its-kind order to reform the New Mexican education system.

The Bruce Family in litigation allowing the return to the family of beachfront land in Manhattan Beach taken in 1920s through inverse condemnation proceeding motivated by racial animus.

Speaking Engagements/Interviews:

Keynote Speaker, Statewide Unity Bar Summit, May 2025
Presenter, USC Corporate Fraud Seminar, April 2025
Speaker, Chancery Club of Los Angeles, April 2025
Panelist, Cross-Border Internal Investigations: Trends and Key Considerations, Government Investigations & Civil Litigation Institutes Annual Meeting, November 2024
Speaker, Diversity Outreach Panel: Becoming an AUSA, various Asian-American Bar Associations, October 2024
Keynote Speaker, Litigation and Appellate Summit, California Lawyers Association, April 2024
Presenter, USC Corporate Fraud Seminar, April 2024
Speaker, CASA Summit, January 2024
Keynote Speaker, United Against Hate, January 2024
Speaker, Young Lawyers Division Association of Business Trial Lawyers, September 2023
Speaker, Civil Rights Stakeholder Meeting, Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles Ron Olson Justice Center, June 2023
Panelist, Criminal Justice Leadership Panel, Italian American Lawyers Association, May 2023
Commencement Speaker, Pepperdine Law School Graduation, May 2023
Presenter, USC Corporate Fraud Seminar, April 2023
Speaker, USA National Security Conference, March 2023
Speaker, Chancery Club of Los Angeles, February 2023
Speaker, Professional Success Summit, American Bar Association Litigation Section, October 2022

Publications

Interviewed, Public Service and High-Stakes Cases, Trial Tested, American College of Trial Lawyers podcast, March 27, 2025
Interviewed, Matthew Perry: A Hollywood Tragedy, Peacock, February 2025
Interviewed, 3 White Collar Enforcement Laws Garland Could Wield as AG, Law360, Jan. 6, 2021
Co-author, States vs US High Court in Arbitration Tug-of-War, Daily Journal, Dec. 28, 2017
Co-author, Tippee Liability After Salman, The Federal Lawyer, June 2017
Interviewed, The Curious Case of the Disappearing Nuts, Outside Magazine, June 2017
Co-author, Fraud Ruling Stresses Mens Rea, Daily Journal, Dec. 20, 2016
Co-author, Calif. High Court Goes Against the Arbitration Grain, Law360, Aug. 23, 2016
Co-author, A Court or an ArbitratorWho Decides Whether Arbitration Agreements Provide for Class Arbitration?, California Litigation Review, 2014

Practice Areas

Commercial Litigation
Trials
Investigations
White-Collar

Education

Stanford Law School (J.D., with distinction, 2002) executive editor, Stanford
Law Review
University of California, Irvine (B.A., magna cum laude,1998) Phi Beta Kappa

Clerkships

Judge RobertJ. Timlin, U.S. District Court, Central District of California
Judge Arthur L. Alarcon, U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit

Bar Admissions

California
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
U.S. District Court, Central District of California
U.S. District Court, Northern District of California