Derek Martin

A premier member of the National Academy of Motorcycle Injury Lawyers, Derek Martin has established himself as one of Illinois’ most trusted advocates for drivers facing serious legal challenges. As co-founder and partner of Driver Defense Team, the top-rated Illinois law firm for DUI defense, traffic violations, motorcycle and car accident injury, and driver’s license reinstatements, Derek has spent his career making sure that a moment behind the wheel or handlebars doesn’t define the rest of someone’s life.

He’s quick to point out that the firm’s results are never his alone. Behind every case is a team of 13 attorneys, 4 paralegals, and 17 case managers and staff members working in coordination, and that structure is the reason clients don’t feel left in the dark. His team’s reputation in the Chicagoland area is straightforward: if your legal problem started on a motorcycle, Driver Defense Team is who you call.

Building the Firm

Derek’s road to the law was anything but conventional. A product of Chicago’s south suburbs, he spent years managing a team of more than 50 employees at a major media company while attending Chicago-Kent College of Law at night. That chapter shaped everything about how he eventually built his firm, the work ethic, the systems thinking, the belief that clients deserve real communication and a clear plan, not just a retainer and a prayer.

He co-founded Driver Defense Team alongside Stephanie Kemen, an accomplished criminal defense attorney, and together they have scaled it into one of the fastest-growing law firms in the country. The firm has earned a spot on the Inc. 5000 list three years running and was ranked the 29th fastest-growing law firm in the United States.

Today, DDT’s attorneys, among them lead attorney Stephanie Buck and lead personal injury attorney Dmitry Polyakov, appear in courtrooms throughout Cook, Lake, DuPage, and Kane Counties on a daily basis, drawing on decades of combined legal experience in each case. The firm also serves clients in English, Spanish, Russian, Polish, and more, so language is rarely a barrier to a strong defense.

A System Designed to Win

Derek is the architect of the firm’s proprietary 9-Step Playbook and Personalized Defense Gameplan, two structured systems developed from the analysis of over 5,000 winning cases. Rather than recycling generic strategies, every client receives a defense roadmap built specifically for their situation, delivered in three phases: briefing, development, and execution. That methodology has earned Driver Defense Team more than 3,000 five-star Google reviews and a client satisfaction guarantee that few firms in the state can match.

His peer recognition reflects the same standard. Derek holds a Peer Review Rating from Martindale-Hubbell and is an active member of both the Chicago Bar Association and the State Bar of Illinois. Fellow attorneys have described him as one of the hardest-working and most capable lawyers they know, someone who ensures every client is treated with genuine respect and every case gets the attention it deserves.

Derek is a proud husband and father of three. He coaches his kids’ football and baseball teams, and the values he brings to those fields, preparation, teamwork, and perseverance, are the same ones that drive how he leads his firm.