Martin Chitwood

Career

Martin Chitwood has been one of the nation’s leading class action litigators, and his firm Chitwood Harley Harnes, LLP has been one of the nation’s leading class action firms. Chitwood Harley Harnes, LLP has offices in New York and Atlanta.

Mr. Chitwood has served as lead or co-lead counsel in more than 40 class actions nationwide and has been instrumental in recovering billions of dollars for investors and other class members. Mr. Chitwood has been recognized as a Georgia Super Lawyer by Law and Politics each year since the inception of the award. In addition, Mr. Chitwood has served as lead trial counsel in approximately 25 jury trials and has written and argued numerous appeals. In a lead article in February 2004, the Atlanta Journal/Constitution stated that Mr. Chitwood “is considered the plaintiffs’ lawyer in the state of Georgia.”

Mr. Chitwood has served by appointment as a Special Assistant Attorney General for the state of Georgia to represent Georgia state pension funds in securities class actions, and has also served as lead counsel in securities class actions for pension funds of numerous other states. Also, Mr. Chitwood has been Vice President, Co-Chair of Securities, and a director of the National Association of Securities and Consumer Law Attorneys (NASCAT) and a director of the Committee to Support the Antitrust Laws (COSAL). He is recognized as a leader in the field of corporate governance reform. Mr. Chitwood has participated as a panelist in many professional seminars and has published many articles and papers on securities and antitrust laws.

Film Writer and Producer

Mr. Chitwood wrote the story for and co-produced the motion picture "Unconquered," a CBS movie of the week that first aired in January 1989. Unconquered depicts the lives of Richmond Flowers, who served as an Attorney General of Alabama during the 1960’s, and his son, who together supported changes in the civil rights laws that led to integration in Alabama. "Unconquered" was chosen as a Best of Category for 1989 by TV Guide. The film was also nominated best costuming in a miniseries or special at the 1989 primetime Emmy awards. Mr. Chitwood has been a member of the Writers' Guild of America.

Military Service

During the Vietnam Conflict, Mr. Chitwood was assigned to the Fifth Special Forces Group (Abn) (Green Berets) and served as the commanding officer of a Special Forces A-Team. He received a Top Secret security clearance with Special Access from the Department of Defense. In addition, Mr. Chitwood was awarded both the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with a Silver Star and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Palm by the Government of South Vietnam, and the Air Medal, Bronze Star Medal, Combat Infantryman's Badge, and Vietnam Jump Wings by the Department of the Army.

Publications

Mr. Chitwood authored the book The Influence of The English Common Law on Commonwealth West African Legal Systems, the most recent edition of which was published in January 2016.

Mr. Chitwood is also the author of papers on various aspects of securities and antitrust litigation, including: "The Securities Reform Act of 1995: Its Effects on Litigation and Capital Formation" - published in Calendar Call, Vol. II, Winter 1996, No. 4 "Federal Preemption of State Securities Laws: Uniform Standards or Misguided 'Reform'?" - published in Calendar Call, Vol. III, Spring 1998, No.1 "Litigating the Class Action Lawsuit in Georgia" - published by the National Business Institute in 1998

Additionally, he authored multiple articles published by the Institute for Continuing Legal Education ("ICLE") in Georgia and has presented these articles at ICLE seminars, including:

• "Securities Class Actions: The Plaintiffs' Perspective" - 1997
• "Class Actions and Antitrust Enforcement" - 1998
• "The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 - A Synopsis" - 1999
• 2000 and 2001 Updates to the "Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995"
• "Investor Communications During Litigation: Ethical Problems, Procedural Issues and PSLRA Requirements in Communicating with Investors When Litigation Is Pending" - 2001

Education and Student Life

Mr. Chitwood attended the University of Georgia, where he received his A.B., M.A., and J.D. degrees.  Martin was a leading scorer on the 1970 University of Georgia rugby team that was undefeated during its regular season.

Special Recognitions

In October, 2016, the University of Georgia, a university with more than 340,000 living alumni, recognized Mr. Chitwood as one of its “Eight Alumni of Distinction”. According to Graduate School Dean Suzanne Barbour, each of “the recipients are distinguished by their professional achievement at the regional, national and international levels. Their outstanding attainments include publications, awards received, mentorship, for serving as role models in their profession, and for making contributions to their local and global communities.”

Philanthropy

Mr. Chitwood has been recognized for organizing and developing many civic and charitable fundraisers. Most recently, he participated in an event in which he rappelled from the 39th floor of the Manchester Grand Hyatt Hotel in San Diego “Over The Edge” to support research to find a cure for childhood brain cancer  https://overtheedgeglobal.com/.

Current Status

Mr. Chitwood is living in La Jolla, California where he is active as an investor in the biotech community and contributes regularly to Scrubs magazine, writing about important financial topics in the healthcare industry.

References

This article "Martin Chitwood" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Martin Chitwood. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

---