Martin Estrada is a partner with Munger, Tolles & Olson.

Mr. Estrada is a trial attorney whose practice focuses on complex litigation and investigations. A former federal prosecutor, he has tried over thirty federal and state trials and arbitrations, argued over a dozen appeals before the U.S. Court of Appeals, and conducted hundreds of investigations.

A Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, Mr. Estrada represents major corporations and executives before both federal and state courts in a variety of areas, including business disputes, product liability, technology matters, and government investigations.

Widely recognized by his peers and community, Mr. Estrada has been named 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. Mr. Estrada is also a two-time recipient of the California Lawyer Attorney of the Year (CLAY) award, and has received many other recognitions for his work, including the U.S. Department of Justice’s prestigious Director’s Award for Superior Performance, as well as awards from the Federal Bar Association, the Minority Corporate Counsel Association, and the Daily jou rnal . Mr. Estrada was previously a member of Law36o’s Trials Editorial Advisory Board.
Mr. Estrada is an active member of the legal and civic communities, serving on the boards of the Federal Bar Association of Los Angeles, the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, and the Alliance for Children’s Rights, and past member of the Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation (JNE) of the State Bar of California. He is an Adjunct Professor for Loyola Law School’s Ninth Circuit Appellate Clinic, part of the Alarcon Advocacy Project, where his teams have repeatedly achieved success for indigent clients. Mr. Estrada also served as a member of the Los Angeles Unified School District’s “Reimagining School Safety” task force.

During his tenure as a federal prosecutor, Mr. Estrada served as the Deputy Chief of the Violent and Organized Crime Section and as International Organized Crime Coordinator in the United States Att orney’s Office in Los Angeles, and prosecuted hundreds of criminal cases involving a broad spectrum of criminal violations. Among other major cases, Mr. Estrada successfully led and directed the nation’s largest RICO organized crime prosecution targeting members and associates of Eurasian organized crime, one of the country’s largest-ever bank fraud and identity theft prosecutions, and a major public corruption matter involving the illegal leaking of sensitive, under-seal information by a federal court clerk.

Mr. Estrada has consistently been involved in public interest work and pro bona representations, including in the areas of immigration, education , and indigent services. His work in helping to lead and win one of the largest educational-rights cases in the country was recognized by the National Law jou rna l. He has also litigated on behalf of young immigrants and public-interest organizations against efforts to restrict the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (“DACA”).

Mr. Estrada served as a law clerk for U.S. District Judge Robert J. Timlin of the Central District of California and Judge Arthur L. Alarcon of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He graduated with distinction from Stanford Law School in 2002, where he served as executive editor of Stanford Law Review, and earned his undergraduate degree in history from the University of California, Irvine, where
he graduated magna cum laude in 1998.

Mr. Estrada’s family emigrated from Guatemala, and he is fluent in Spanish.

Experience
Key Representations

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

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

Wells Fargo Bank in claims relating to unfair sales practices resulting in litigation in federal and state courts.

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

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

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

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

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 museum’s collection. The victory was named among the Daily journal’s Top Verdicts of 20 16 .

The former CFO of SunEdison, Inc. in federal multidistrict litigation regarding securities claims related to the SunEdison’s collapse and bankruptcy.
Speaking Engagements/ Interviews
Speaker, Mexican American Bar Associarion (MABA) judicial Exrernship Program, June 2021

Speaker, Polarizarion of rhe American jury, American Bar Association (ABA) Annual Litigation Conference, May 2021

Interviewed, Transforming Educarion in New Mexico, Practicing Law Institute (PU) Pursuing Justice Podcast, March 2021

Moderator, The Furure of rhe jusric e Deparrmenr and rhe Rule of Law: The Challeng es Ahead, Federal Bar Association (FBA-LA), January
2021

Interviewed, 3 White Collar Enforcement Laws Garland Could Wield As AG, Law360, January 2021

Speaker, Consrirurional I mpacr Lirigarion Border Wall Funding, rhe Righr ro Educarion and More, Association of Business Trial Lawyers (ABTL), February 2020

Speaker, Juror Expectations Versus Reality, Association of Business Trial Lawyers (ABTL), 46th Annual Seminar, The Transforming Business of Business Litigation, October 2019

Panelist, Prepping Your Client to Testify, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), June 2018

Panelist, Discovery (Domestic) and Information Exchange (International), USC/JAMS Arbitration Institute Third Annual Symposium, March 2018
Interviewed, The Curious Case of the Disappearing Nuts, Outside Magazine, June 2017

Panelist, Trial Practice, Education Law Center Litigators’ Workshop, October 2017

Interviewed by Oregon Public Broadcasting regarding the highly publicized first trial (March 2016), aftermath (December 2016) and second trial (February 2017), concerning the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge occupation by Ammon Bundy.

Speaker, That’s a Wrap: The Good, the Bad, and the Reversible: in Closing Arguments, American Bar Association Annual Meeting, August 2016

Publications
States vs US High Court in Arbitration Tug-of-War, Daily Journal, December 2017

‘Tippee’ Liability After Salman, The Federal Lawyer, June 2017

Fraud Ruling Stresses Mens Rea, Daily Journal, Dec. 20, 2016

Calif. High Court Goes Against The Arbitration Grain, Law360, Aug . 23, 2016

A Court or an Arbitrator-Who Decides Whether Arbitration Agreements Provide for Class Arbitration? ,California Litigation Review
(2014)

The Rise and Fall of the Constitutional Knock and Announce Rule, 54 Fed. Law. 52 (2007)

Criminalizing Silence: Hiibel and the Continuing Expansion of the Terry Doctrine, 42 St. Louis U. L.J. 279 (2005)

Pushing Doctrinal Limits: The Trend Toward Applying Younger Abstention to Claims for Monetary Damages and Raising Younger
Abstention Sua Sponte on Appeal, 81 N.D. L. Rev. 475 (2005)

A Toothless Tiger in the Constitutional Jungle: “The Knock-and-Announce Rule” and the Sacred Castle Door, 16 U. Fla. J.L. & Pub. Pol’y 77 (2005)

The Ephemeral Right to Remand, 50 Fed. Law. 22 (2003)

Practice Areas
Litigation
Trials

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

Firm Mailing

312 N Spring St Ste 1200
Los Angeles
California-Southern
90012-2551
United States of America

Fellow Since

February 26, 2022

Practice Areas

  • Antitrust
  • Civil Rights-Plaintiff
  • Commercial Arbitration
  • Commercial Litigation
  • Criminal Defense
  • Product Liability-Defense
  • Securities

Chapter

  • California-Southern

Contact Info

(213) 894-2406