Martin "Marty" London is an American litigation attorney who is best known for representing former

US Vice President The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest ranking office in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The ...

Spiro Agnew Spiro Theodore Agnew (; November 9, 1918 – September 17, 1996) was the 39th vice president of the United States, serving from 1969 until his resignation in 1973. He is the second of two vice presidents to resign, the first being John C. ...

. He was a partner at

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise consumer, clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and Obligation, respon ...

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP and has been litigation

of counsel Of counsel is the title of an attorney in the legal profession of the United States who often has a relationship with a law firm or an organization but is neither an associate nor partner. Some firms use titles such as "counsel", "special couns ...

at the firm since his retirement in 2005. London has published articles in ''

Time Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps as ''TIME'') is an American news magazine based in New York City. It was published weekly for nearly a century. Starting in March 2020, it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York Cit ...

'', the ''

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'' and ''

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''.

Early life and education

London grew up in Crown Heights,

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, where his father owned a coin-operated self-service laundromat. Following his graduation from

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

in 1955, he went on to attend

NYU School of Law The New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-b ...

and graduated

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

in 1957. He was a member of the '' NYU Law Review''.

Career

London worked at law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP for 45 years until his retirement in 2005. He was the firm's chairman from 1990 to 1992. In 1971, London represented former First Lady

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Jacqueline Lee Kennedy Onassis ( ; July 28, 1929 – May 19, 1994) was an American writer, book editor, and socialite who served as the first lady of the United States from 1961 to 1963, as the wife of President John F. Kennedy. A popular f ...

in a

harassment Harassment covers a wide range of behaviors of an offensive nature. It is commonly understood as behavior that demeans, humiliates, and intimidates a person, and it is characteristically identified by its unlikelihood in terms of social and ...

lawsuit against the

paparazzo Paparazzi (singular form paparazzo) are independent photographers who take pictures of high-profile people, such as actors, musicians, athletes, politicians, and other celebrities who go about their daily life routines. Paparazzi are known f ...

Ron Galella Ronald Edward Galella (January 10, 1931 – April 30, 2022) was an American photographer, known as a pioneer paparazzo. Dubbed "Paparazzo Extraordinaire" by ''Newsweek'' and "the Godfather of the U.S. paparazzi culture" by ''Time'' magazine and ...

, which resulted in Kennedy Onassis obtaining a restraining order against the photographer and highlighting the issue of paparazzi. Other clients include tobacco corporation

Brown & Williamson Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation was a U.S. tobacco company and a subsidiary of multinational British American Tobacco that produced several popular cigarette brands. It became infamous as the focus of investigations for chemically enhancin ...

, financial corporation

Citigroup Citigroup Inc. or Citi (Style (visual arts), stylized as citi) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services company based in New York City. The company was formed in 1998 by the merger of Citicorp, t ...

and non-profit organization Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette, with the latter represented

pro bono ( English: 'for the public good'), usually shortened to , is a Latin phrase for professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment. The term traditionally referred to provision of legal services by legal professionals for people who a ...

. In the mid-1980s, London represented the lawyers defending several of Donald Trump's tenants in a separate case, who Trump then sued in an attempt "to crush the tenants by crippling their lawyers." London was actively involved in the disbarment for unethical conduct in 1986 of

Roy Cohn Roy Marcus Cohn ( ; February 20, 1927 – August 2, 1986) was an American lawyer and prosecutor. He first gained fame as a prosecutor of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg in their trials (1952–53) and as Senator Joseph McCarthy's chief counsel duri ...

, former chief counsel for Senator

Joseph McCarthy Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was an American politician who served as a Republican Party (United States), Republican United States Senate, U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death at age ...

and Donald Trump's mentor and personal lawyer. In 2018, London called on President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

to resign. His memoir, ''The Client Decides: A Litigator's Life: Jackie Onassis, Vice President Spiro Agnew, Donald Trump, Roy Cohn, and more'', was published in 2017. London contributed to Rachel Maddow's 2018 podcast ''

Bag Man The Sack Man (also called the Bag Man or Man with the Bag/Sack) is a figure similar to the bogeyman, portrayed as a man with a sack on his back who carries naughty children away. Regional traditions Variants of this figure appear all over ...

'' about the criminal investigation into former vice president Spiro Agnew on suspicion of

criminal conspiracy In criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more people to commit a crime at some time in the future. Criminal law in some countries or for some conspiracies may require that at least one overt act be undertaken in furtherance ...

bribery Bribery is the corrupt solicitation, payment, or Offer and acceptance, acceptance of a private favor (a bribe) in exchange for official action. The purpose of a bribe is to influence the actions of the recipient, a person in charge of an official ...

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit (e.g., money or goods) through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, although making unfounded ...

and

tax fraud Tax evasion or tax fraud is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trust (property), trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax au ...

in 1973. According to evidence presented by the then

United States Attorney for the District of Maryland The U.S. attorney for the District of Maryland is the chief federal law enforcement officer for the State of Maryland. Since February 2025, the interim United States attorney for the District of Maryland is Kelly O. Hayes. The United States Distri ...

, George Beall, Agnew had "sought and received cash payments of more than $100,000 while in elective office" over a period of eight years. Agnew resigned in exchange for the charges being reduced to tax evasion. On the podcast, London recalls the events from his point of view as Agnew's lawyer at the time.

Personal life

London married his first wife, Mellanie R. Bell, in 1958. They had two children, Jesse (*1960) and Lizbeth (*1965), and were divorced in 1974. London's second wife, Doris "Pinks" Wilke London, is a retired private tutor for children with learning disabilities. She has two children from a previous relationship, including her daughter Stephanie Mack, who was married to Bernie Madoff's son Mark until his death by suicide in 2010. It was London who discovered the body of his son-in-law in the couple's apartment.

Publications

* ''The Client Decides: A Litigator's Life: Jackie Onassis, Vice President Spiro Agnew, Donald Trump, Roy Cohn, and more'' (2017)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:London, Martin Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American lawyers American writers Spiro Agnew