Martin L. Roth, P.C.

Trials

• SM Buyer LLC et al. v. RMP Seller Holdings LLC: Lead trial counsel in arbitration over substantial M&A deal dispute; award confirmed in $90 million judgment (including pre and post judgment interest) entered by Delaware Chancery Court on behalf of client; argued and secured affirmance of confirmation from Delaware Supreme Court.
• Campus Oaks Apartments 1, LLC v. BBC Roseville Oaks, LLC: Lead trial counsel for Bixby Bridge Capital affiliate in complete defense jury verdict in Placer County, California state court involving land purchase and sale.
• Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund Litigation: Trial counsel for BP in complete defense jury verdict in South Carolina state court. Successfully argued motion to dismiss resulting in complete dismissal of Illinois False Claims Act case. Obtained multiple summary judgment victories and favorable dispositive rulings in similar suits filed in Minnesota, South Dakota, Michigan, Ohio, Utah, Missouri and Montana.

Class Actions

• Privacy Class Actions: Lead counsel to a diverse range of clients in a variety of putative class actions brought under state and federal privacy statutes and common law, including:
  
  • Bridges v. Blackstone, Inc. (N.D. Ill.): Secured complete dismissal of class action under Illinois Genetic Information Privacy Act arising out of purchase of Ancestry.com; affirmed on appeal to Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals (profiled in The National Law Journal and recognized for “Litigator of the Week” by The American Lawyer).
  • ZoomInfo: Lead counsel in four putative class actions in the Northern District of Illinois and the Northern District of Ohio under right of publicity statutes and common law claims related to ZoomInfo and its subsidiary Datanyze’s online database of business contact information; secured complete dismissal of the Ohio action; affirmed by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
  • EdTech: Lead counsel for multiple educational technology companies in putative class actions pending in several courts alleging violations of student and parent privacy rights in connection with online technology platforms. Secured complete dismissal of claims against client Instructure at pleading phase.
  • Doe, et al. v. GoodRx, et al. (N.D. Cal.): Lead counsel in consolidated class actions under California and New York privacy statutes and common law involving the use of pixels and software development kits.
• Data Breach Class Actions: Lead counsel to a diverse range of clients in putative data breach class actions, including:
  
  • In re CDK Global Data Security Consumer Litigation (N.D. Ill.): Lead counsel for CDK Global in consolidated putative class actions and other suits arising of an alleged data-security incident.
  • Malinowski v. IBM, et al. (S.D.N.Y.): Lead counsel for IBM and Johnson & Johnson, Health Care Systems, Inc. in consolidated putative class action related to data incident involving Janssen CarePath patient support platform.
  • Negron v. Ascension Health (E.D. Mo.): Lead counsel for Ascension in consolidated putative class action and companion state court cases related to recent cybersecurity incident.

Sports Litigation

• Chicago Cubs v. Dunican: Lead counsel for Chicago Cubs in misappropriation, infringement and false advertising case brought against owner of a rooftop across from Wrigley Field.
• G. William Hunter v. Derek Fisher: Represented NBA player Derek Fisher in litigation brought by Executive Director of NBA’s Players Association. Court dismissed all fourteen claims at pleading stage and awarded attorneys’ fees.
• Lead counsel on significant internal investigation into employee misconduct at professional sports franchise.

Private Equity

• Garda USA v. Sun Capital Partners, et al.: As profiled in Bloomberg and the New York Law Journal, secured complete summary judgment win for Sun Capital affiliates in M&A lawsuit alleging breach of confidentiality obligations resulted in a lost deal nearly a month after exclusivity ended. Argued for and secured key New York appellate decision limiting damages to “amounts expended in the negotiation and diligence process” that can be tied to the alleged breaches.

• Ney v. 3i Group, et al.: Lead counsel in lawsuit based on alleged oral contract entered with CEO in connection with M&A transaction. Argued for and secured dismissal of all claims in trial court and argued for and secured Fifth Circuit affirmance.

• Lead trial counsel in numerous confidential arbitration disputes related to earn-outs, purchase price adjustments and other deal-related disputes.

• Lead counsel on numerous Rep & Warranty insurance claims; secured substantial client recoveries.

Martin devotes significant time to community service. He served as pro bono amicus counsel in the Fisher v. University of Texas U.S. Supreme Court cases. Martin previously served as President of the American Jewish Committee’s ACCESS Chicago Board. 

Martin has also served as pro bono appellate counsel in a number of matters in the Sixth and Seventh Circuits, including United States v. Debra Hills (Seventh Circuit). As a member of the Northern District of Illinois Trial Bar, he has taken assignments as court-appointed counsel for pro se litigants.