Sometimes a seemingly minor bump in the road can alter the course of a life. It happened to William R. “Billy” Martin in the early 1970s. Then a Howard University business major, Martin went home to Pittsburgh on a school break and got in an accident with a lawyer driving a fancy sports car.
“The lawyer’s in a Porsche; I’m in a Volkswagen. I thought he was dead wrong in rear-ending me and I got out of my car and started to tell him what I thought, and he started smiling,” Martin recalled. “He said, ‘You know, you’re very good on your feet. Have you ever thought of going to law school?’ ”
Martin negotiated a settlement to get his car fixed and accepted an invitation to tour the lawyer’s firm. At the time, Martin — one of eight children born into a close-knit, African-American steelworker family living in the tony, mostly white Pittsburgh suburb of Sewickley — had set his highest sights on earning an MBA and becoming a marketing executive. But the fender bender got him excited about the legal profession, and he decided to go to law school instead.
Now 58, Martin is a former federal prosecutor who heads Sutherland Asbill & Brennan’s white-collar criminal defense practice. He routinely makes lists of Washington’s top lawyers and is known nationwide by his client list of celebrities, public officials and professional athletes.
The list includes former NBA star Jayson Williams, acquitted of aggravated manslaughter in the 2002 shooting death of a chauffer, as well as former Philadelphia 76er Allen Iverson, former Washington Wizards Juwan Howard and Rod Strickland, and former heavyweight boxing champ Riddick Bowe. More recently, Martin defended Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, now serving time in prison for his involvement in a dogfighting ring.
Martin also represented White House intern Monica Lewinsky and her mother, Marcia Lewis, during President Clinton’s impeachment proceedings. He managed to shield them from the rigors of the prosecution, blocking a second grand jury appearance by Lewis and signing off on an offer of blanket immunity for Lewinsky — a result that he counts as “one of my proudest moments in the practice of law.”
Other famous clients include the parents of slain Capitol Hill intern Chandra Levy, actor Wesley Snipes, recently acquitted of tax fraud, and U.S. Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, who pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct after his famous foot-tapping arrest in a men’s room at the Minneapolis airport last summer.
Less known — and his corporate clients like it that way — is Martin’s work defending Fortune 500 companies involved in commercial and civil litigation, including claims of negligence and racial discrimination.
“Some of those cases never hit the news cycle, never become public,” Martin said. “I am most proud when I am able to help the client resolve those matters privately.”
And although the media attention for his representation of athletes is “flattering,” Martin said, he would like to do more in his corporate practice. “Of course I say that, and then the next athlete who gets in trouble will call me,” he joked.
Dan Marino — not the NFL quarterback, but the lawyer — helped recruit Martin to Sutherland after working with him on a couple of cases. He said Martin’s down-to-earth manner helps him get along well with judges and juries, as well as clients and colleagues.
“He’s just a real pleasure to work with. You never hear a harsh word from him. Whether you are the garage attendant downstairs or the managing partner upstairs, he’s got an open ear,” Marino said. “Billy’s a very hard worker, and he’s just always available to people and happy to help.”
Marino said that while Martin’s corporate and sports contacts are an obvious asset to the firm, his extensive trial experience, as a prosecutor and as a defense lawyer, is the real key to his success.
“He can walk just about any case into the courtroom and connect with jurors,” Marino said. “That’s a skill Billy has that transcends his high-profile and athlete cases.”
Marino said Martin generously shares his hard-earned skills, representing death row inmates for free and helping to train new lawyers, which is the part of his job Martin said he enjoys most.
Sutherland partner Neil Lang marvels at Martin’s sense of perspective and reassuring sense of humor.
“When you work in litigation, it’s a high-tension practice, especially when you deal with people in the public eye as Billy has, and it’s easy to make it not fun,” he said. “Billy makes it fun.”
Martin’s sports practice began nearly two decades ago when he left the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington to work for a Pittsburgh firm that represented the Pirates, the Penguins and the Steelers. After Martin helped a hockey player avoid charges in an alleged assault, the firm started shuttling other sports cases his way. Later, he befriended Georgetown basketball coach John Thompson, who introduced him to famed sports agent David Falk, who has since sent Martin a steady stream ofclients.
Martin credits another friend — Johnnie Cochran — for teaching him how to handle such high-profile cases, and how to deal with the media, long before Cochran became famous as O.J. Simpson’s lawyer.
“He passed on everything he knew to me and I am very honored to have been both a friend and a mentee of Johnnie Cochran,” Martin said. Cochran, he said, was a master at preparing thoroughly for trial, tearing apart and analyzing the facts of the case and the law. “Johnnie taught me how to take all of that and how to deliver your client’s position both in court and in the court of public opinion. In the types of cases I am frequently involved in, both are very important,” he said.
Martin said he works hard to gain his clients’ trust, so they won’t say something in front of the cameras that will hurt their defense.
“I tell them, ‘Go play the game you are best at,’ ” he said. ” ‘You’re one of the world’s most gifted athletes. That is what you do best. Allow me to do what I do best.’
“They all want to speak from the heart. They all want to say what’s on their minds, so we try to give them additional information to add to the message they are developing,” he said.
A huge sports fan who played football, basketball and baseball in high school and ran track in college, Martin said he has relished meeting so many people in the sports world. But he’s careful not to become friends with his clients.
“I want to be the person who can deliver both the good news and the bad news. It’s sometimes hard to deliver bad news to a friend,” he said. “But I try to make sure that my clients walk into and out of that courtroom with me. That’s the best feeling in the practice of criminal law — when you hear a jury say, ‘Not guilty.’ ”
Billy Martin’s
tips for success
1 Prepare, prepare, prepare. Never let your opponent be more prepared than you.
2 Consider what you can do, not what you can’t do.
3 Walk humbly.
4 Treat people with dignity.
5 Trust God.
BIO FILE|WILLIAM R. “BILLY” MARTIN
» Born: Oct. 29, 1949
» Hometown: Sewickley, Pa.
» Education: B.A., Howard University, 1973; J.D., University of Cincinnati College of Law, 1976
» Family: Wife Michel Martin, host of NPR’s “Tell Me More”; 4-year-old twins and two grown daughters from a previous marriage; two grandchildren
» Key jobs: Assistant city prosecutor, Cincinnati; assistant U.S. attorney, Southern District of Ohio; assistant U.S. attorney, District of Columbia; Partner, Blank Rome; partner, Sutherland Asbill & Brennan, 2007-present
» Biggest influences: My family
» Favorite books: The Bible; “The Innocent Man” by John Grisham
» Quote to live by: “The truth will set you free.”
