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Martin Garbus (born August 8, 1934) is an American attorney. He has argued cases throughout the country involving first amendment, constitutional, criminal, copyright, and intellectual property law. He has appeared before the United States Supreme Court, as well as trial and appellate courts throughout the United States in leading First Amendment cases. His cases have established precedents there and in other courts throughout the country. He has argued and written briefs that have been submitted to the United States Supreme Court; a number of which have resulted in changes in the law on a nationwide basis, including one described by Justice William J. Brennan as "probably the most important due process case in the Twentieth Century". An international observer in foreign elections, he was selected by President Jimmy Carter to observe and report on the elections in Venezuela and Nicaragua. Garbus also participated in drafting several constitutions and foreign laws, including the Czechoslovak constitution. He also has been involved in prisoner exchange negotiations between governments. He is the author of six books and over 30 articles in The New York Times, The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times. Shouting Fire is a documentary film about his life and career. He received the Fulbright Award for his work on International Human Rights in 2010. In 2014, University College Dublin's Literary and Historical Society honored Garbus with the James Joyce Award for Excellence in Law. The same year Trinity College awarded him for his human rights and free speech work. He has represented dissidents in amongst other places such as China, Czechoslovakia, India, Russia, South Africa, and Taiwan.
The Guardian called Garbus "one of the world’s finest trial lawyers" and the "founding partner of one of America’s most prestigious law firms". The New York Law Journal called him "one of America's finest criminal lawyers...a legendary criminal lawyer." In 2007, Business Week called him "legendary", "a ferocious lawyer who has received numerous media citations as one of America’s leading trial lawyers" and a "ferocious litigator". Time magazine named him "legendary, one of the best trial lawyers in the country." Fortune magazine called him, "One of the nation's premier First Amendment attorneys", and "legendary".  Reuters called him a "famed lawyer" while other media have called him "America's most prominent First Amendment lawyer" with an "extraordinarily diverse practice" and "one of the country's top ten litigators." Super Lawyers Magazine designated him as a Superlawyer. New York magazine and Los Angeles magazine have named him both as one of America's best trial lawyers, and one of America's best intellectual property lawyers. The New York Times described Garbus as being "on the front lines of... nearly every important First Amendment court battle for more than three decades." He has defended clients such as "Lenny Bruce, Samuel Beckett, Cesar Chavez, and Chuck D" and has "locked horns... with the Federal Government... and with writers and reporters," including Norman Mailer and Mike McAlary. Though "a hero to liberals," Garbus drew controversy when "his dedication to the First Amendment led him to defend the right of Nazis to march through Skokie, Ill.," which "earned the enmity of many friends and colleagues."
In 2023 and 2024, several of Martin Garbus‘ high-profile, controversial cases have been featured in “All the Court’s a Stage,” a series of dramatic adaptations by Susan Charlotte, directed by Antony Marsellis and presented by Cause Célèbre Productions, a Not-for-Profit organization. The series, based on the writings of Garbus, includes stories about the legal journeys of Samuel Beckett, Lenny Bruce, Daniel Ellsberg, Václav Havel, Henrietta Wright, Salman Rushdie, Andrei Sakharov, and "Jane Doe" and played to sold-out audiences in NY and LA. The casts included acclaimed Broadway, film, and television actors: two-time Tony Award winner James Naughton; Tony Award Nominees Penny Fuller, Zach Grenier, and Tony Roberts; Drama Desk Award winner Bob Dishy; Obie Award winner Larry Pine, and Jack Wetheral and Nesha Ward.
In 2014, President Barack Obama traveled to Cuba with Mr. Garbus’ clients to facilitate an exchange that included the release of Gerardo Hernández and his brothers. A decade later, Hernández, reflecting on the role of Martin Garbus in his defense, stated: “‘Legend’ is one of the words most often used by prestigious publications to describe the American lawyer Martin Garbus, who represented me after the passing of my previous attorney, Leonard Weinglass.”



Martin Garbus

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Dear God

Lenny Bruce: Without Tears