Our People by Location: Boca Raton

Biography

J. Marcos Martinez, Esq., is a Senior Partner in the Miami office. Martindale-Hubbell and his peers rated him AV® Preeminent™. He was also recognized in Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch for 2026. Fluent in Spanish, he routinely works with multilingual clients, carriers, witnesses, and insureds throughout South Florida.

Marcos leads the firm’s Gig Economy Litigation Team, bringing almost two decades of litigation experience handling bodily-injury claims ranging from soft-tissue and surgical cases to catastrophic injury and wrongful death matters. He has extensive experience defending gig-economy corporations, ride-share companies, and their insureds in high-exposure litigation arising from app-based operations. His practice routinely involves complex auto and bodily-injury claims. Marcos has a deep understanding of platform-based contractor models, the Transportation Network Company (TNC) Act, and regularly defends claims against independent contractors insured in compliance with the TNC Act. His defense strategy integrates a strong command of digital evidence—GPS data, app logs, metadata, telematics, communications records, and safety-protocol audits—allowing him to effectively challenge inflated claims and reconstruct delivery events to build a strong defense.

Marcos is the Chair of the firm’s Legionnaires’ Disease practice group. He helps hotels, condominiums, and private short-term and long-term renters defend against claims involving the water-borne pathogen. He has defended major hotel chains in federal and state courts after alleged Legionnaires’ disease outbreaks. Marcos oversees the firm's defense of Legionnaires' Disease case handling including strategy in securing complete CDC, FDOH, maintenance records, hiring specialized experts, and finding alternative sources of exposure for the ubiquitous bacteria.

Marcos also defends claims against individuals, corporations, governmental entities, and insurers in state and federal courts throughout Florida. His practice also includes defending cases involving wrongful death, catastrophic injury, premises liability, governmental liability, negligent security, trucking liability, toxic tort claims involving cosmetic talcum powder and roadway construction. Marcos 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 §§ 1981 and 1983.

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 received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Florida International University (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 (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 the United States Supreme Court (2016) and the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (2012).

Practice Areas

Practice Areas

• Appeals | Litigation Support
• Auto & Fleet Liability
• Bad Faith | ECO
• Commercial Litigation
• Construction Liability
• Environmental | Toxic Tort
• EPL | Employment Law
• Excess Monitoring and Parachute Trial Team
• Federal Practice
• General and Retail Liability
• Government Liability
• Home Owners Association and Condo Association
• Insurance Coverage
• Negligent Security
• Premises Liability
• Roadway Construction
• Sexual Misconduct Liability
• Time & Policy Limit Demands and Tenders
• Trucking Liability

Experience

Martindale Rating

• AV® Preeminent^TM

Awards & Honors

• Book Award, Legal Research and Writing
• Book Award, Advanced Legal Research and Writing
• Best Lawyers, Ones to Watch, 2026

Bar/Court Admission

• 2007, Florida
• 2008, United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida
• 2008, United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida
• 2012, United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Judicial Circuit
• 2016, United States Supreme Court

Education

• Florida International University, B.A., 2004
• University of Florida, Levin College of Law, 2007

Industries Represented

Languages

• Spanish, Fluent

Verdicts

Verdicts

Presentations

Presentations and Speaking Engagements

Publications

Articles