Craig C Martin

Practice Areas

Craig C. Martin serves as Chairman, Midwest for the firm and is a member of the Executive Committee. A leading national trial lawyer, his clients include major corporations and the nation’s most influential families, and he regularly appears as lead counsel in trials and appeals in state and federal courts as well as in domestic and international arbitrations. Craig also counsels boards and board committees of public and private companies and law firms on a variety of sensitive and complicated matters, and conducts board and management-driven investigations involving various subjects domestically and internationally.

Craig frequently speaks and writes on a variety of business and legal topics. Among his recognitions, he is listed in Chicago Magazine’s “Power 100,” a list of Chicago’s most powerful people and Crain’s Chicago Business “Who’s Who” in Chicago civic, professional, and cultural leaders.

Craig has appeared in The American Lawyer’s “Litigator of the Week” column for his courtroom successes, and has been featured in The National Law Journal’s “Masters of the Courtroom Winning Litigators” special report honoring trial lawyers for their victories in high-stakes matters.

Craig received a JD from Harvard Law School in 1988. He received his BA, magna cum laude, in 1985 from the University of Notre Dame.

Professional Memberships

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, the University of Chicago Law School Advisory Council and the Millennium Park Foundation. He is a member of the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and the Economic Club of Chicago.

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.

Awards