Christopher R. Martella is a member practicing in the areas of real estate, cybersecurity, and corporate matters. In addition to his real estate and corporate background, Mr. Martella focuses on structured finance and medical practice “roll-up” sales. Prior to joining Dawda Mann, Mr. Martella worked at a boutique firm that advised mid-market qualified professional asset managers on the acquisition of commercial real estate and alternative investment vehicles. Mr. Martella has extensive experience working with the United States General Services Administration and its real estate service providers. Prior to his boutique practice, Mr. Martella worked in the State of Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates for the local office of a multinational law firm. While in the Middle East, Christopher’s practice focused on real estate acquisition and development, cross border mergers and acquisitions, and Islamic and traditional finance. In addition to Mr. Martella’s real estate and finance background, he is a leading advisor to many small and medium sized businesses on legal issues related to pre and post electronic data breach mitigation strategies, data security, data privacy, and National Institute of Standards and Technology and ISO/IEC 27000 data security and management compliance.

Mr. Martella has been selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America© 2021 in the field of Real Estate Law (Copyright 2020 by Woodward/White, Inc., of SC). He is also a 2018 – 2020 Leading Lawyer in the categories of Data Privacy, Real Estate Law: Commercial, and Real Estate Law: Finance.

Prior to becoming an attorney, Mr. Martella was a founder and the chief operating officer of Microweb Inc., a mobile phone software company based in Hong Kong which was sold to a Chinese technology company in 2002.

Christopher R. Martella

Member
Education

University of Detroit Mercy, Information Assurance, 2015

Michigan State University, J.D., 2006

Michigan State University East Lansing, Michigan, International Relations, 2001

Associations

American Bar Association

AFCEA International

Information Systems Audit and Control Association

Detroit Institute of Arts Friends of Asian Arts and Cultures Auxiliary – Past President

State Bar of Michigan – Member (Real Property & Information Technology Sections; Privacy Law Committee)

University of Detroit Mercy’s Center for Cyber Security & Intelligence Studies Advisory Board and Steering Committee –

Oakland County’s Tech248 Network

Leadership Oakland (Class of XXVII)

Cybersecurity 313 Podcast Series – Contributor

Honors and Awards

Recognized by The Best Lawyers in America©, Real Estate Law, 2020-2023.

Leading Lawyers: Real Estate Law: Commercial

Real Estate Law: Finance, Data Privacy

Oakland County Elite 40 Under 40

Richard H. L. Marshall Scholar (University of Detroit Mercy

Bar Admissions

Michigan, 2006

U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan

U.S. Court of International Trade