Craig D. Martin

Practice Areas

Craig Martin serves as co-chair of Morrison Foerster’s Investigations + White Collar Defense and ESG + Sustainability practice groups.

Craig has led dozens of internal investigations, often on behalf of audit and special committees. Though Craig most frequently assists with matters involving complex financial accounting and reporting issues, his investigations have covered a broad range of subjects, including corporate disclosures, commercial practices, scientific misconduct, commercial and foreign bribery, and misuse of company assets, among many others.

In addition, Craig represents issuers involved in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) enforcement and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) investigations. Craig’s clients span various industries, including technology, healthcare and life sciences, financial services, manufacturing, real estate, and agriculture. Craig has obtained excellent results for clients, often in the wake of a serious financial accounting misstatements or disclosure failures.

Craig also serves as personal counsel to executives and directors in government and internal investigations. Attuned to the scrutiny that corporate executives can face in the wake of a business setback, Craig has helped CEOs, CFOs, and general counsel successfully navigate parallel SEC, DOJ, and internal investigations.

Clients consistently praise Craig for his sound judgment, investigative experience, pragmatism, and credibility. He has been recognized in the “Enforcement 40” published by Securities Docket as one of the 40 best securities enforcement defense lawyers in the business.

In addition to representing clients, Craig served for a decade as a Firmwide Managing Partner at Morrison Foerster (2012-2022).

Craig was an enforcement attorney in the SEC’s San Francisco office from 1999 to 2002. During his tenure at the SEC, he worked closely with attorneys and investigators from DOJ on both financial accounting fraud and insider trading matters. Of particular note, Craig led one of the largest insider trading cases in SEC history, in which 15 individuals were charged with illegal trading.

Craig is a leading commentator on internal investigation procedures, securities litigation and enforcement, corporate governance, and compliance, and has been quoted in publications such as the Daily Journal, The Recorder, and GC Magazine. He has also been invited to speak on those topics by prominent industry organizations including the Securities Enforcement Forum, the Practising Law Institute, the Institute for Corporate Counsel, the Institute of Internal Auditors, the National Society of Compliance Professionals, and the Association of Corporate Counsel, among others.

Craig earned his B.A. in 1990 from the University of California, Berkeley. He received his J.D. from Stanford Law School, where he was an associate editor of The Stanford Law Review.