Jean Martin

Partner

Jean Martin joined the firm in January 2026 to lead AWKO’s consumer class action practice. For more than 25 years, Ms. Martin has concentrated her practice on complex litigation, including consumer protection and defective products class actions. She brings a unique background having handled individual personal injury and mass tort cases as well as managing large-scale consumer class actions. Ms. Martin’s caseload spans multiple disciplines within the class action bar, including data privacy, consumer goods, medical products and environmental disasters.

Ms. Martin is widely recognized for her considerable experience in data privacy cases, including appointments as co-lead class counsel in In Re: Perry Johnson & Associates Medical Transcription Data Security Breach Litigation, No. 24-md-3096-RPK-LG (E.D.N.Y.,) and co-lead counsel in In re HCA Healthcare Data Security Litigation, No. 3:23-cv-00684 (M.D. Tenn.), In re Morgan Stanley Data Security Litigation, 1:20-cv-05914 (S.D.N.Y.), In Re: Ambry Genetics Data Breach Litigation, No. 20-cv-00791 (C.D. Cal), In re Brinker Data Incident Litigation, 18-cv-686 (M.D. Fla.), and a member of the Executive Committee in In Re: AT&T Inc Customer Data Security Breach Litigation, No. 24-cv-00757 (N.D. Tex.).

She is also a member of the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in In re: Allergan Biocell Textured Breast Implant Products Liability Litigation, No. 19-md-2921 (D. N.J) and was a member of the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in In re: Smith & Nephew Birmingham Hip Resurfacing (BHR) Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation, No. 17-md-2775 (D. Md.).

Ms. Martin serves as co-lead class counsel in consolidated litigation arising from a chemical plant fire in Conyers, GA in In re: Bio-Lab Class Actions, 1:24-CV-4407-SEG (N.D.G.A.). She also presently leads a class action against CSX for chemical exposures and property damage stemming from a train derailment in Webb et al. v. CSX Transportation, Inc., 23-cv-00211-REW (E.D. Ky.). She was on the expert discovery committee and trial team for a product mislabeling/false advertising class action in Hasemann v. Gerber Prods. Co., No. 1:15-cv-02995-EK-JAM (E.D.N.Y.

Ms. Martin has been honored with the prestigious “AV” rating by Martindale-Hubbell. In 2016, she was selected by her peers as the foremost Litigation attorney in the State of North Carolina for Business North Carolina Magazine’s Legal Elite, gaining membership in the Legal Elite Hall of Fame. In 2022, she was recognized by Law360 as an MVP in the area of cybersecurity and data privacy. She was named as one of National Law Journal’s Class Action/ Mass Tort Litigation Trailblazers of 2023. In 2025 she was named as one of Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers and Lawdragon 500 Leading Global Cyber Lawyers.

Ms. Martin received her Juris Doctor degree from Wake Forest University School of Law, where she served as Editor-in-Chief of the Wake Forest Law Review and for which she serves on the Board of Visitors. She graduated from Wake Forest University with a Bachelor of Science in Mathematical Economics and earned a Master of International Business from the University of South Carolina.

Beyond her daily legal practice, Ms. Martin founded Class of Our Own, an invitation-only annual summit for female attorneys handling plaintiff class actions held in Nashville, Tennessee. This conference features two days of legal panels while also promoting female empowerment. The first three summits have been highlighted by the participation of the Hon. Jane Branstetter Stranch of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, the Hon. Karen Caldwell, Chair of the JPML, the Hon. Linda Lopez of the Southern District of California, and the Hon. Staci Yandle of the Southern District of Illinois.