Contact

Amy Martel

Law Office of Amy Martel

2262 Carmel Valley Road, Suite G

Del Mar, CA 92014

(619) 374-0074

amymartellaw.com

When she was named 2022 Trial Lawyer of the Year by Consumer Attorneys of San Diego, Amy Martel, Esq. said, “The practice of law has changed, and this award is an acknowledgment to women litigators that we can get the big verdicts and still go to our kids’ sports games. In September I finished a 3-week medical malpractice trial and the next day we packed the van and headed out for a weekend basketball tournament for my boys. It takes effort to mentally make a quick transition from cross examiner to “sports mom” but I feel incredibly lucky that I have the chance to be both. I think this was a significant achievement not only for me, but for the next generation of women trial lawyers, many of whom had never seen a woman accept this award,” says Amy Martel, Founder of The Law Office of Amy Martel.

In its more than 50 years, the organization has given the award to only seven women.

“To be one of the first of my generation of women to get that award was incredible. I have a ton of respect for the women that paved the way for me to be able to get there,” she says.

Entering a New Playing Field

Her award was based on an entire year’s worth of litigation and service but was significantly influenced by a specific case that proves Martel’s contention about the increasing power of women litigators. She won a $3,929,198 jury verdict in the wrongful death case of Skaggs v. Frederick Howden, M.D.

Cardiothoracic surgeon, Defendant Dr. Frederick Howden provided negligent care and treatment to Shane Skaggs following an aortic valve replacement surgery. In the immediate post operative period Skaggs showed signs of serious and ominous complications. He was hypoxic, acidotic, he was in cardiogenic shock and his EKG showed signs of myocardial infarct. Howden recognized Skaggs’ recovery was compromised yet, he wrote it all off as “typical post operative and expected findings” and failed to investigate the cause of his patient’s decline. Skaggs died seven hours after surgery.

Martel says, “Unfortunately, he had two young kids and a wife who not only suffered from the physical loss, but from the trauma of how Skaggs had died. I tried that case and was able to get a significant verdict, the jury actually gave me more in general damages than I requested—almost double of what I asked for.”

Earlier this year Martel obtained a $5,650,000 settlement in a medical negligence case in which the defendant failed to identify and properly evaluate a thymic mass that was identified on CT scan. For two years the patient had multiple pulmonary symptoms and despite the thymic mass having been identified on CT, her physicians failed to biopsy the mass. The delay in treatment of the mass, which was ultimately determined to be malignant, caused encephalopathy (a brain disease) that resulted in the patient losing 85 percent of her short-term memory.

This year she has also had two significant pre-litigation settlements, which is fairly unusual for medical malpractice. One was for $2M for the failure to diagnose lung cancer and one was for $900,000 for failure to diagnose breast cancer. 

Martel praises the women attorneys who paved the way for her and her contemporaries, noting that the playing field has definitely changed for the better. “We have a new ‘playing field.’ Times have changed and attorneys, firms, and clients now understand that women can handle the biggest and most complex cases and go on to win the big verdicts. We can now make the practice of law our own and no longer have to fit into the old school mold of how to practice law.”

Taking Care of Business, Taking Care of the Kids

Practice areas of The Law Office of Amy Martel include personal injury, medical malpractice, birth injury, wrongful death, failure to diagnose, motor vehicle accident, slip and fall, premise, and product. Approximately 75% of her cases are medical malpractice with most of the remaining 25% devoted to general personal injury and related cases.

Clients speak well of the new firm and its founder. 

“Amy stood by us through five long years of setbacks. The ‘Coronavirus’ closed the courts, so we suffered delays, but Amy was always there. When we finally got to go to mediation, Amy took charge and fought for us. This was a difficult time in our lives, but Amy was always the shining light.”—Dennis Long

Martel decided to step out and form her own firm after 15 years with Chihak and Martel. Two key factors influenced the decision. One, it was time, she says. “I was ready to stand on my own two feet, to call my own shots, and to take whatever risk and reward scenarios came along. Another reason was that I had reached the point in my life with my kids’ ages that I wanted to be more present at home. I don’t believe that a successful career and a successful home life are incompatible. It’s not a ‘one or the other’ situation.”

She has a physical office for when one is needed, but primarily Martel and her team now work remotely, which has proven even more effective than she originally believed possible. “Without having to deal with the usual distractions of an office environment, I find I’m very efficient and am able to get a lot done in a shorter period of time. I’m really enjoying it. I hired my assistant with the intention of working remotely and she likes it as well. Working remotely allows us to have more flexibility in our schedule, which translates into more time for our clients.”

Early on she didn’t think she would like working from home, figuring the distractions of a home environment would be just as challenging as those of an office. She says she probably works more hours for her clients than before, but at the same time now has far more time for her family. She and her husband have two boys in junior high and having the ability to check in with them, even just for a few minutes a day, makes a huge difference, she says. “For example, one day this summer my boys were going to the beach midday, and I joined them for two hours, came back home, and went back to work. It was amazing and I never would have been able to do that if I were not running my own business. I have taken the same approach with my staff—as long as the work is getting done, I don’t need them to be tied to their desk. I think allowing this flexibility has created a very positive work environment with a surprising amount of efficiency.”

Martel credits her success in great part to work ethic, her experience and ability to understand the issues, and just being able to spot the issues. She is also aggressive in defending her clients and her positions. “If you’re going to try and take advantage of me, you’ve probably barked up the wrong tree,” she says. She also works hard at building and maintaining good relationships with the defense counsel and others in the profession and related fields.

 “I think that those relationships have allowed me to obtain good results for my clients because people know they can trust me. They know I’m going to be prepared. They know I’m going to be civil, but at the same time a tough litigator,” she says.

Her clients readily agree with her approach to the practice of law and to the care of her clients.

“Amy Martel is exceptional. She handled every aspect of our case so we could focus on the care of our loved one, not on the issues surrounding the case. We felt, heard, and trusted her implicitly. Her team was on call to answer questions and explained all processes efficiently. Even when we hit a roadblock, Amy went after it with great tenacity. We are forever grateful to her and her team as they exceeded our expectations.”—Jenifer Met

Working Remote Means Better Service to Family and Community

In addition to providing more productive time for client service, working remotely has allowed Martel more time and opportunity for professional, community and family service and obligations. Community service has always played an important role in her life. 

She was named to San Diego’s Business Journal’s Best of the Bar, and as a Super Lawyer from 2015 to the present. In 2018 she received an Outstanding Trial Lawyer award from Consumer Attorneys of San Diego for her work in Katie Hunt v. Steven Drosman, M.D. and in 2019 she received Outstanding Advocate award from Consumer Attorneys of San Diego for her work in Graves v. Kaiser Foundation, et al.

Martel is on the Board of Directors of Consumer Attorneys of California and the San Diego Inn of Court. She is a Master in the Wallace Inn of Court and co-chair of the education committee. She served on the Board of Directors for Consumer Attorneys of San Diego from 2014-2021, she served as Secretary, Treasurer, President Elect and in 2020 she served as President. She also served on the Board of Directors of Traveler’s Aid Society from 2003-2018, a private, non-profit agency that provides crisis and short-term assistance for food, shelter, and transportation as well as advice and resources for San Diegans in need. She served as Chair of the Board from 2007-2009.

In 2020, Martel served as co-founder and Chair of Resolve Law San Diego, the largest pro bono project in San Diego’s history. Resolve Law San Diego was formed to create a temporary solution to the crisis the civil justice system faced as a result of the Court’s closure due to COVID-19. The goal of the program was to provide free mediation and dispute resolution services to the San Diego legal community. RLSD recruited more than 250 volunteer mediators and resolved more than one hundred cases in less than two hundred days. RLSD was the first program of its kind in the nation and the committee helped numerous other jurisdictions launch similar programs, including Resolve Law Los Angeles.

Martel has been a distance runner and a bike rider since her university days. Along with their two boys, the Martel family is often traveling in their van across the west coast with their mountain bikes or to basketball tournaments. Being active in the day-to-day activities and sports of her two sons, Waylon and Charlie, is her priority. “People always tell you about the terrible twos, but no one warns you about tweens,” Martel says with a laugh. “Now, more than ever, you can be a litigator and have a great quality of life outside of work. I think the best advice that I could give women who want to become attorneys is to realize that there is nothing that will make up for a hard work ethic. Good ethics are essential. But also, after my experience of going out on my own, it’s important to think out of the box. Be confident that you can do things the way you want to and run a business the way you want to, and that you don’t have to fit the mold of the old guard anymore. There is a lot more opportunity out there for young women who want to have a family and want to be litigators. And you can excel at both.”

» Education

• University of San Diego School of Law, 2003
• Honors: Chair, The Pro Bono Legal Society
• Honors: Member, Mock Trial Team
• University of Washington, 1999, BA Political 
• Science and History
• Honors: Member, The Cross Country, and Track Team

» HONORS AND AWARDS

• Awarded 2022 Trial Lawyer of the Year by Consumer Attorneys of San Diego
• Named one of San Diego’s Top Attorneys by Super Lawyer Magazine, 2015-present
• Named top 25 Women Attorneys in San Diego 2018, 2021-present
• San Diego Business Journal’s Best of the Bar, 2015-present
• Awarded Outstanding Advocate by Consumer
  Attorneys of San Diego 2019
• Awarded Outstanding Trial Lawyer by Consumer Attorneys of San Diego 2018

» PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS AND MEMBERSHIPS

• California State Bar, Member
• Consumer Attorneys of San Diego, Member
• Consumer Attorneys of San Diego, Board of Directors, 2014-Present, Secretary 2017, Treasurer 2018, President Elect 2019; President 2020, Immediate Past President 2021 
• Consumer Attorneys of California, Member, Board of Directors 2020-present 
• San Diego County Bar Association, Member
• Nevada State Bar Association, Member
• American Inns of Court, J. Clifford Wallace, Master
• San Diego Inn of Court, Board of Directors
• Traveler’s Aid Society, Board of Directors, 2003-2018

» BAR ADMISSIONS

• California
• Nevada