Ashlee Martin

Ashlee Martin is currently a named Partner at Gerger, Hennessy & Martin LLP, a Chambers Band 1 ranked white-collar criminal defense firm in Houston, Texas. Ashlee is an experienced trial lawyer and former federal prosecutor who currently defends individuals and companies in criminal and civil proceedings in federal and state court. Her recent trial victory included receiving an acquittal of all charges against DOJ for client Mark Forkner, who was the only person criminally charged in the Boeing 737 Max crashes.

Before private practice, Ashlee served as Trial Attorney and Assistant Chief in the U.S. Department of Justice, Fraud Section. She led the Health Care Fraud Strike Force—supervising seven prosecutors and overseeing complex fraud cases in Texas. She supervised dozens of investigations and prosecutions of white-collar crime and tried numerous federal jury trials involving hundreds of millions of dollars of fraud claims.

Ashlee’s work at DOJ garnered several accolades including the HHS Inspector General’s Award for Integrity; HHS Inspector General’s Award for Excellence; IRS Criminal Investigation’s Recognition for Outstanding Support; and the Assistant Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service.

Ashlee has served on the boards of several legal and social organizations, including the Texas Civil Rights Project, the Federal Bar Association for the Southern District of Texas and the Houston Association of Women Attorneys. She is committed to pro bono service. Her pro bono work includes representing Maurice Hall, the passenger in George Floyd’s car, and helping students at T.M. Landry—a high school accused of submitting fraudulent college applications. Her work has been featured in Bloomberg Law, CNN Chris Cuomo, The New York Times, and was the focus of the premiere episode of NYT’s docuseries “The Weekly.”

She has been named Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch 2020-2022. Ashlee was also recently named the Nation’s Best Advocate of the Year (2022) by the National Bar Association 40 Under 40 List.

Ashlee attended Spelman College and Vanderbilt University Law School.