Firm News

Martin & Martin is excited to announce that the National Trial Lawyers has named Attorney Kimberly N. Martin a Top 100 Trial Lawyer in the State of Georgia in the civil trial lawyer category.

The National Trial Lawyers is a prominent, invitation-only legal organization comprised of the top trial lawyers in each state or appropriate region. Each attorney invited to the organization must meet a stringent set of qualifications, and only the best attorneys make the cut. The organization has two primary sets of awards for each state or region: Top 100 and Top 40 Under 40. For each set of awards, there are two lists, one for civil trial lawyers and one for criminal trial lawyers. In addition, the organization offers membership in specialty associations, and those associations are not invitation-only. These associations allow lawyers to correspond with other lawyers who specialize in their same practice area.

Attorney Kimberly N. Martin has over twenty years of experience in all employment and wage & hour practice areas including discrimination, retaliation, the ADA, the ADEA, the FMLA, Title VII and the FLSA. Kimberly earned her Juris Doctorate from the University of Florida where she graduated with honors; received the “Book Award” for receiving the highest grade in her class in Employment Law; and received the award of Most Outstanding Graduate on the law school’s trial team. In 2016, Kimberly with her partner, Thomas F. Martin, obtained the second highest jury award in Georgia for the year for a sexual harassment and retaliation case. The court also granted their request for all attorneys’ fees and costs. She can now proudly list among her accomplishments a spot on The National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Trial Lawyers list for Georgia in the civil trial lawyer category.

The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirms the Order of the District Court of the Northern District of Georgia finding employee's arbitration agreement invalid in age discrimination case.

In a big victory, Attorney Thomas F. Martin got his client's arbitration agreement thrown out and they were permitted to proceed in District Court in an age discrimination case. The District Court and the Eleventh Circuit both agreed with Tom that the arbitration agreement was illusory and invalid because it permitted the employer to unilaterally revise the agreement. Whether an employee has to go to arbitration or is permitted to proceed in District Court makes an astounding impact on the employee's case. Arbitration does not favor the employee. The employee loses their chance to be heard in front of a jury and is forced to be heard in front of an arbitrator who may or may not have ever practiced employment law as an attorney or ruled on employment law cases as a judge. The final awards handed out by arbitrators to employees are lower than what a jury would award. Therefore, every time a client has an arbitration agreement, Tom intensely reviews it for any chance at arguing that it is invalid.

“We do not want to be in arbitration. Plain and simple. Arbitration does not favor employees. I do not go to arbitration willingly. If there is one single clause that I can argue that makes the arbitration agreement invalid, I'm making that argument." Attorney Thomas F. Martin said about his victory.

Tom is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy and Vietnam veteran and has over twenty-eight years of senior corporate executive experience with hospital corporations, including CEO of three of the largest psychiatric hospitals in the country at the time. He practices law in all areas of employment, wage & hour, and contracts. Not only does Thomas represent employees, he also represents a select number of small businesses utilizing his substantial corporate background. To learn more about Tom and feel free to contact him.

The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed the District Court's award of attorneys' fees and costs to Martin & Martin ordering the defendant to pay one hundred percent of the law firm's attorneys' fees and costs.

After litigating a Fair Labor Standard Act (FLSA) overtime case for two years and just three weeks shy of trial starting, Attorneys Kimberly N. Martin and Thomas F. Martin successfully settled the case on behalf of their client at mediation. Their client was a delivery driver who Martin & Martin alleged was improperly classified as an independent contractor by the defendant and not paid overtime at a rate of time and one-half of the client's regular hourly rate for all hours over forty in a workweek. After mediation, Martin & Martin filed a Motion for Attorneys' Fees and Costs asking the District Court to order the defendant to pay one hundred percent of the firm's attorneys' fees and costs expended after litigating the matter for two years. In a twenty-eight page opinion, the District Court granted the law firm's motion based, in part, on the firm's reputation, experience, and ability.

The defendant filed an appeal asking that the law firm be awarded a mere fraction of the attorneys' fees and costs sought. The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the District Court's Order and the defendant was required to pay Martin & Martin their attorneys' fees and costs associated with litigating the overtime case. The attorneys at Martin & Martin regularly seek recover of attorneys' fees and costs in their FLSA overtime cases so that their clients can obtain their lost wages without a reduction to cover attorneys' fees and costs.

Learn more about the law firm's overtime law practice.

The District Court of the Northern District of Georgia has awarded attorneys' fees and costs to Martin & Martin in a home health care overtime case.

After fiercely litigating a Fair Labor Standard Act (FLSA) overtime case on behalf of a group of home health care workers who were not paid overtime, Attorney Thomas F. Martin was lead counsel in obtaining a court order directing the home health care agency to pay Martin & Martin's attorneys' fees and costs associated with the matter. Thomas mediated the unpaid overtime case late into the night on behalf of his five clients arguing that the home health care agency failed to properly compensate his clients under the FLSA's overtime regulations. His diligent efforts were rewarded when the parties finally agreed to settlement. He then successfully sought recovery of attorneys' fees and costs in the case.

"I was prepared and willing to spend the night, if I needed to, in order to obtain the absolute best result for my clients," attorney Thomas F. Martin said about the marathon late night mediation.

Attorney Thomas F. Martin, a graduate of the United States Naval Academy and Vietnam veteran, has over twenty-eight years of senior corporate executive experience with hospital corporations, including CEO of three of the largest psychiatric hospitals in the country at the time. His practices law in all areas of employment, wage & hour, and contracts. Not only does Thomas represent employees, he also represents a select number of small businesses utilizing his substantial corporate background.

The attorneys at Martin & Martin regularly seek recover of attorneys' fees and costs in their FLSA overtime cases so that their clients can obtain their lost wages without a reduction to cover attorneys' fees and costs. Learn more about the law firm's overtime law practice. Learn more about the firm's representation of a select number of small businesses.