Overview
David P. Martin dedicates his practice to ERISA litigation and practices at The Martin Law Group in both Birmingham and Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
Areas of Practice:
ERISA Claims and Litigation
Employee Benefits Law
Life Insurance Law
COBRA Claims
ERISA Class Actions
Overpayment Claims and Subrogation
Long-term Disability Claims
Pension and Retirement Claims
Admissions:
Alabama, 1992
U.S. District Court Southern District of Alabama
U.S. District Court Middle District of Alabama
U.S. District Court Northern District of Alabama
U.S. Court of Appeals 11th Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals 2nd Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals 5th Circuit
Memberships:
Alabama State Bar, Member
Tuscaloosa County Bar Association, Member
American Bar Association, Member
Alabama Association for Justice, Member
Tuscaloosa County, President, Board for Focus on Senior Citizens
Alabama Lawyer, Board of Editors
Alabama State Bar Task Force, Chair
Biography
David P. Martin is a 1992 Graduate of the University of Alabama School Of Law. He graduated with honors in the top ten percent of his class and was inducted into the Order of the Coif. He was also honored as a Hugo Black Scholar and served on the Board of Editors for the Journal of Legal Profession, an ethics publication for lawyers. David previously graduated magna cum laude from the University of Houston at Clear Lake.
David is a member of the Alabama State Bar, the Tuscaloosa County Bar Association, the federal court bars for the Southern, Middle, and Northern Districts of Alabama, the 2nd and 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, and the Alabama Association for Justice. He currently serves as president of the board for a charitable organization in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama known for Focus on Senior Citizens.
David also serves in the Alabama State Bar Volunteer Lawyers program and has served on the Alabama State Bar’s board of editors for the Alabama Lawyer. He has also previously chaired the Alabama State Bar Task Force on Alternative Methods of Dispute Resolution and oversaw the editing and release of a manual produced by this task force. He has been named by Alabama Super Lawyers Magazine as one of the top attorneys in Alabama in the area of employee benefits/ERISA law. Only 5% of the lawyers are named by this publication and David has been the only employee benefit/ERISA lawyer named who solely represents employees and their loved ones. David has also been selected by Strathmore’s Who’s Who World Wide as Professional of the year in the area of law-employee benefits.
David has litigated numerous cases in federal and state courts and before the 2d and 11th Courts of Appeals as well as the Alabama Supreme and the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals. He regularly lectures on topics pertaining to ERISA and employee benefit litigation both for continuing legal education seminars as well as to other organizations or groups. David has handled ERISA claims since 1992 and the overwhelming majority of his practice has focused on ERISA cases since 1999.
Education:
The University of Alabama School of Law, Tuscaloosa, Alabama – 1992
Honors: Hugo Black Scholar
Honors: With Honors in the Top 10% of his Class
Honors: Order of the Coif
Law Journal: The Journal of the Legal Profession, Board of Editors
University of Houston, Clear Lake – 1987
Honors: magna cum laude
Published Works:
Taking Benefits Back: Reimbursement under ERISA, 69 Alabama Lawyer 1, January, 2008 · “Obtaining Neuropsychological Test Date: Why Is This So Hard”, (Co-Author), 68 Alabama Lawyer 216, May, 2007
“Unraveling ERISA Civil Penalties”, (Co-Author), 68 Alabama Lawyer 2, March, 2007 · “Let Go of the Peanuts”, Alabama State Bar Addendum, August, 2006
“The Subtle Snake: Long Term Disability Under ERISA”, 66 Alabama Lawyer 279, July 5, 2005
“Overcoming Disadvantages in Proving Medical Damages in Personal Injury Cases”, 23, Number 2 Alabama Trial Lawyers Journal 27, Spring, 2003
“Overcoming Deposition Jitters”, Alabama State Bar Addendum, February, 2003
“Take Another Good Look at Those ERISA Cases”, Alabama State Bar Addendum, Volume 7, Number 5, August, 2002
“File Retention Nightmares in the Small Firm”, Alabama State Bar Addendum, Volume 7, Number 3, April, 2002
Editor, Manual for Mediation for the Alabama Task Force on Mediation, 1996
“The Birth of Jim Crow in Alabama 1865-1896″, The National Black Law Journal, 184, Volume 13, Numbers 1 & 2, 1993
“The Metamorphosis of Contributory Negligence to Assumption of Risk in AEMLD Cases”, 12, Number 4, Alabama Trial Lawyers Journal 20, Fall, 1992
“Communication with Unrepresented Potentially Adverse Persons”, Volume 16 The Journal of the Legal Profession 251, 1991
Experience
Presenter, “Representing Plaintiffs in Health Care Claims,“ Birmingham Bar, 2012
Presenter, ERISA Litigation Practical Advice for a New Practice, Georgia State Bar Employee Benefits Law Section for the Seminar, 2011
Presenter, Subrogation Claims: Views from the Plaintiff and Defense Bars, Continuing Legal Education Presentation, 2011
Presenter, “Discretionary Clauses in Alabama: The History and Present Litigation,“ Birmingham, AL , 2010
Panel Discussion, Sticky and Ethical ERISA Issues, 2010
Host and Presenter of the ERISA Litigator’s Group Seminar, Plaintiff and Defense Attorney’s Birmingham, AL, 2010
Television Appearance on Law Call- Employment Law issues, One-Half Hour Program at Television Station WVUA, 2010
Presenter, “Spotting ERISA and other Employee Benefit Cases,“ Worker’s Compensation Law Seminar, Birmingham, AL, 2010
Presenter, “ERISA/Subrogation Issues.“ Workers’ Compensation Law Seminar, 2009
Presenter, “What Every Lawyer Needs to Know About… ERISA.“ Tuscaloosa County Bar Association, 2008
Television Appearance on Law Call- Losing Your Employee Benefits, One Half Hour Program on Television Station WVUA, 2008
Presenter, Workers’ Compensation from the Plaintiff’s Perspective – Portion of Seminar Dedicated to ERISA, Alabama Trial Lawyers Association, 2006
Presenter, “Handling the Automobile Injury Claim in Alabama.” National Business Institute, 2004
Presenter, “Damages in Alabama Civil Trial Practice.“ National Business Institute, 2003
Honors:
One of the Top Attorneys in Alabama in the Area of Employee Benefits/ERISA Law, Alabama Superlawyers Magazine