Ralph Drury Martin
Of Counsel
rmartin@doumarmartin.com

Ralph is a member of the bars of Maryland, the District of Columbia, Louisiana (inactive), California (inactive), the United States Supreme Court, and various United States Courts of Appeals and United States District Courts. He attended Tulane University and the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain, and was graduated from Washington University (St. Louis) law school, where received the Honors Scholar award, was an editor of the Washington University Law Quarterly, and was elected to the Order of the Coif. Ralph was a law clerk for Chief Judge Frederick J.R. Heebe of the Eastern District of Louisiana.

As a senior federal prosecutor, Ralph conducted grand jury investigations and trials in many noteworthy cases in the federal courts, including complex fraud, RICO, and corruption cases, as well as civil rights cases involving police killings, brutality, and racial violence. The recipient of numerous U.S. Department of Justice awards, Ralph was lead special prosecutor in one of the few investigations and trials of a federal judge and the only investigation and criminal trial of a sitting United States Attorney.

Ralph advised the Department of State on negotiating international agreements (as Deputy Assistant Legal Adviser) and on contract and procurement fraud, national security matters and transactional civil litigation (as Special Counsel to the Inspector General). Ralph was an associate representative of the United States before the International Court of Justice (EMRO case) and a legal adviser to the United States Delegations to the United Nations General Assembly and the Micronesian Status Negotiations. Ralph has also served as an adjunct professor at the Washington College of Law of the American University.

In the securities industry, Ralph was counsel to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, where he led complex investigations and enforcement actions involving the securities markets, including credit, equity, and other derivatives.

In private practice, Ralph has:

• represented business and individual clients in complex civil, criminal, and administrative litigation;
• supervised and conducted multimillion-dollar financial-fraud investigations on behalf of both financial regulators and private clients;
• successfully handled numerous national security and other matters involving the foreign service and intelligence communities;
• conducted a comprehensive investigation into the insolvency of a major financial institution resulting from investment in collateralized debt obligations and served as co-lead counsel in the resulting successful litigation to recover losses;
• served as counsel to the independent consultant overseeing two major securities-firm restructurings;
• advised securities and investment banking firms on compliance and enforcement matters and litigation.

Ralph speaks Spanish and Portuguese. Among his associations are: Securities Industry Association, Compliance and Legal Division (1999-2002); ABA White Collar Crime Committee (1991-2002); Master, Edward Bennett Williams Inn of Court (1998-2002); listed Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in American Law; Board of Directors, Thomas and Bertie C. Smith Arts Foundation, and Board of Directors, James Madison Project (2002-2007).

Among Ralph’s publications are: When Infractions Become Crimes — More Securities Cases Prosecuted Criminally, Legal Times, September 20, 1999; Alger Hiss and Bill Clinton, Washington Times Commentary & Analysis, May 21, 1999; A Supreme Gift, Supreme Court Rejects Smaltz’s Trivial Gratuity Prosecution, Legal Times, May 3, 1999; Levinsky’s Legal Shuffle, Can Monica Start Over, Legal Times, June 9, 1998; His Staffers Don’t Try to Restrain a Novice Boss, San Francisco Examiner, March 4, 1998; Perhaps a Method to His Madness, Legal Times, February 9, 1998; Nixon’s Lawyer Riffs on History, book review, Legal Times, March 3, 1997; Using Fiction to Tell the Truth, book review, Legal Times, October 9, 1995; Defense Counsel: Targets for the Prosecution, Legal Times, March 20, 1995; On the Supreme Court’s Docket: A Major Issue Concerning Minors, Legal Times, October 3, 1994; Cracking Crimes Through Language, book review, Legal Times, July 11, 1994; Beware the Investigators, Foreign Service Journal, January 1993; Taking the Fifth, Taking Risks, Legal Times, August 17, 1992; Poindexter and the Truth About Lying, Legal Times, December 2, 1991; Comment, Architectural Control Justified on the Basis of Property Value Protection, 1971 Wash. U.L.Q. 118; Comment, The Evidentiary Use of Prisoner Mail, 1971 Wash. U.L.Q. 109.