J Marcos Martinez

J. Marcos Martinez is a Senior Partner in the Miami office of Luks, Santaniello, Petrillo, Cohen & Peterfriend. Martindale-Hubbell and his peers rated him AV® Preeminent™.

Marcos has over fifteen years of litigation experience, defending claims against individuals, corporations, governmental entities, and insurers in state and federal courts throughout Florida. He focuses his practice on cases involving wrongful death, catastrophic injury, premises liability, governmental liability, negligent security, auto and trucking liability, and roadway construction.

Marcos has extensive experience defending hotels and innkeepers in cases involving pool health and safety issues, including drownings and Legionnaires' disease. To a lesser extent, Marcos also handles cases involving allegations of insurance bad faith, sexual misconduct in the workplace, Title VII, and claims made under federal and Florida anti-discrimination laws such as 42 USC §§ .

Marcos has argued before several appellate courts, including the Third District Court of Appeal, the Fourth District Court of Appeal, and the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. In those appeals, he has successfully defended dozens of summary judgments issued for the defense.

Marcos’ commitment to the Miami-Dade County community is strong. He serves as special counsel to a local Miami-Dade County police department and as a traffic magistrate judge for red-light camera tickets issued by that municipality. In addition, Marcos is a yearly chosen speaker for the Miami-Dade County Commission on Ethics and Public Trust’s Ethical Governance Day, which aims to create civic-minded high-school students.

Marcos is a Florida native. He attended St. Thomas Aquinas High School. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Florida International University in 2004. He commenced legal studies at St. Thomas School of Law in Miami, where he placed in the top 5% of his class, made Dean’s List, and received multiple Book Awards. Marcos then transferred to the University of Florida, where he obtained his Juris Doctor degree in 2007.

Marcos is admitted in Florida (2007) and in the United States District Court for the Southern (2008) and the Middle (2008) Districts of Florida. Marcos is also admitted to practice before the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (2012) and the United States Supreme Court (2016).

Marcos is fluent in Spanish.