Brian D. Martin
Partner

Mr. Martin is the Local Litigation Section leader for Pillsbury's San Diego office. He practices in state and federal courts and before arbitration panels on a wide variety of issues at the trial, arbitration and appellate level. Mr. Martin's practice focuses on business and complex litigation primarily involving high-tech, biological sciences and energy companies and financial institutions. Representative matters of Mr. Martin’s include large scale commercial litigation, unfair competition and false advertising, representative and class actions, environmental litigation and disputes over corporate ownership and fiduciary obligations.

The subjects upon which Mr. Martin has litigated include private equity financings, attorney fee awards, open source licensing, foreign distributorships, gift cards, real estate leasing, insurance licensing, banking regulation and contamination. Mr. Martin has represented financial institutions, insurance companies and nationwide retail stores in class actions and representative actions under California’s Unfair Competition Law.

Mr. Martin’s appellate experience includes his representation of a financial institution in the First District Court of Appeal for the State of California, that resulted in the published opinion, Thayer v. Wells Fargo Bank (2001) 92 Cal. App. 4th 819, establishing the parameters of the trial court’s discretion in awarding attorney fees under California’s Private Attorney General doctrine.

Prior to joining Pillsbury in 2003, Mr. Martin was a litigation associate in the San Diego office of Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison LLP from 1998 through 2003. Mr. Martin also served as a legal extern in the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, Government division, in 1997-1998.

• Defended an international oil company in a state court jury trial over environmental contamination. The case settled favorably during mid-trial immediately before the court was to rule on defendant’s motion to dismiss.
• Defended an international law firm accused of conspiracy and breach of fiduciary duty. Won a non-suit motion dismissing the client after three weeks of a jury trial.
• Defended a biopesticide company in arbitration with a licensee/distributor in the United Arab Emirates. The case settled for a small fraction of the demand before the arbitration was completed.
• Represented a death row inmate in a bench trial in Las Vegas as part of a post-conviction Habeas Corpus proceeding. The death penalty was subsequently reversed upon appeal.
• Successfully prosecuted an arbitration on behalf of a subsidiary of a national bank against a defaulted borrower, and successfully defended the subsidiary over claims of fraud and interference.

California Bar Association, American Bar Association, San Diego County Bar Association, Association of Business Trial Lawyers, American Inns of Court, Louis Welsh Chapter, J. Clifford Wallace Chapter

State Courts of California, U.S. District Court for the Southern, Central, Northern and Eastern Districts of California, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

• Brack v. Omni Loan Co, Ltd. (4th DCA, 2008) 164 Cal. App. 4^th 1312
• Beeman v. TDI Managed Care Services, Inc. (9th Cir., 2006) 449 F. 3d 1035
• Smith v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. (4th DCA, 2005) 135 Cal. App. 4^th 1463
• Thayer v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. (1st DCA, 2001) 92 Cal. App. 4^th 819

• Somo v. Chevron Products, U.S.A. (4^th DCA, 2008) 2008 WL 4152962
• Sagi v. Infinity Capital, LLC (4th DCA, 2005) 2005 WL 383711
• Thayer v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. (1st DCA, 2005) 2005 WL 1847174