Ricardo M. Martinez-Cid

Ricardo M. Martinez-Cid is a partner at Podhurst Orseck, P.A., in Miami. He earned his undergraduate degree in only three years at the University of Miami (B.A. cum laude 1997) and his Juris Doctorate at Yale Law School (J.D. 2000) where he was the William S. Beinecke Scholar. While a law student, Ricardo was a director at Yale's renowned clinical program. He served on the Board of Directors of the Latino Law Students Association, and was an editor of the Yale Journal of International Law. Before joining the firm, Ricardo served as a law clerk to the Honorable James Lawrence King on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. He joined the firm in 2002 and was named a partner in 2006.

Ricardo is Immediate Past Chair of the Aviation Law Section of the American Association for Justice; Co-Chair of the Aviation and Space Law Committee of the American Bar Association; Co-Chair of the Aviation Subcommittee of the Mass Torts Litigation Committee of the American Bar Association; President -Elect of the Cuban American Bar Association; and formerly a board member and Secretary of the Belen Jesuit Preparatory School Alumni Association.

On many occasions, Ricardo has obtained multi-million dollar verdicts on behalf of his clients. According to the National Law Journal, his verdict of over 195 million dollars in the Fondo Vision matter was one of the ten largest jury verdicts of 2010. At its annual awards banquet, The Daily Business Review named him one of the most effective lawyers of 2011 and did so again in 2012.

Although Ricardo handles select commercial matters, much of his practice involves personal injury, wrongful death, and product liability cases with a focus on aviation litigation. Ricardo is Board Certified in Aviation Law, thereby accrediting him as an expert within the field of practice. According to the Florida Bar, certification is its highest level of evaluation of competency and experience within an area of law, as well as professionalism and ethics in practice.

In addition to handling general aviation cases involving fixed-wing and rotary aircraft, Ricardo regularly represents victims of commercial aviation disasters. He has been appointed lead counsel or otherwise taken a leadership role in many of these cases, including American Airlines Flight 331, Jamaica (2009); SpanAir Flight 5022, Spain (2008); TACA Airlines, Flight 390, Honduras (2008); Santa Barbara Airlines, S.A., Flight 518, Venezuela (2008); TAM Airlines, Flight 3054, Brazil (2007); GOL Flight 1906, Brazil (2006); Comair Flight 5191, Lexington, Kentucky (2006); Chalk’s Ocean Airways Flight 101, Miami Beach, Florida (2005); Helios Airways Flight 2U522, Cyprus (2005); Tropical Air Flight 1301, Haiti (2003); Scandinavian Airlines Flight 686, Milan, Italy (2001); TAESA Airlines Flight 725, Mexico (1999); and Silk Air Flight MI 185, between Jakarta and Singapore (1997).

Ricardo also devotes much of his practice to representing victims of mass torts and in class actions.  For example, he serves by court appointment on the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee that leads the National Football League Players’ Concussion Injury Litigation on behalf of over 4000 former NFL players.

Ricardo has authored and published work for the American Bar Association and the American Association for Justice. He is a frequent lecturer on aviation law and general trial tactics. The many venues he has been invited to speak at include the Southern Methodist University Air Law Symposium in Dallas; the PEOPIL/McGill University Conference on Aviation Law and Insurance in Amsterdam; American Bar Association programs in New York and Washington, D.C.; the Embry-Riddle University Aviation Law and Insurance Symposium in Orlando, and AviCon Conferences in London and New York City. He has also served on the faculty of the Al J. Cone Trial Advocacy Institute.

He is fluent in English, Spanish and Portuguese .