Chief Justice Mark Martin

Hon. Mark Martin is the Founding Dean and Professor of Law at the Kenneth F. Kahn School of Law at High Point University. He is a respected voice in both judicial and academic circles, an accomplished attorney, jurist and professor, as well as an advocate for access to justice, legal reform, and innovation in legal education.

During his judicial career, Martin served at every level of the state court system and ultimately as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina from 2014- 2019. At the time of his respective installations, Martin was the youngest member in history of the Supreme Court and the North Carolina Court of Appeals.

Martin successfully advocated for juvenile justice reform through a program called “Raise the Age.” In addition, he established the NC Pro Bono Resource Center to improve access to justice. Martin has served on the Committee on Federal-State Jurisdiction of the United States Judicial Conference. He also served on the Board of Directors and as chair of the Professionalism and Competence of the Bar Committee of the Conference of Chief Justices, an organization with a direct influence on the development of codes of ethics and legal best practices nationwide.

Martin has served as the dean at two U.S. law schools. He currently serves as the founding dean of High Point Law and formerly served as dean at Regent University School of Law. He has taught law students at five law schools—Duke, High Point, NC Central, Regent, and UNC. Martin has expertise in multiple areas of the law. He co-taught a course on the various modes of constitutional interpretation with Associate Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr. of the Supreme Court of the United States. He has also taught law courses in appellate advocacy, election law, professional identity formation, professional responsibility, and trial practice.

Martin previously served as chair of the American Bar Association (ABA) Judicial Division and Appellate Judges Conference. He has also chaired the Appellate Judges Education Institute (AJEI) Board of Directors. He is a member of the American Law Institute, where he assisted with the Third Restatement, Conflict of Laws, and served on the Region 15 Advisory Committee. He chairs the Thomson Reuters Judicial Advisory Council. He also served as a founding board member of the Bolch Judicial Institute at Duke Law School. At the state level, Martin serves as a member of the Judicial Independence Committee of the North Carolina Bar Association and previously served as chair of the NC Professionalism Commission and the NC Equal Access to Justice Commission. He chaired the Commission on the Future of the North Carolina Business Court and led the effort to expand the business court.

Dean Martin’s advocacy for the rule of law has extended beyond the United States. He served on the Commission for the World Justice Project and was a two-time delegate to the World Justice Forum, the first-ever global convening to promote the multidisciplinary importance of the rule of law. Martin has served as an expert witness in the Queen’s Bench, Commercial Division in London, England.

Dean Martin’s lifetime of public service and devotion to the rule of law has been widely recognized. Martin has been inducted into the Warren Burger Society of the National Center for State Courts. He is a recipient of the Patriotic Employer Award of the United States Department of Defense. Martin received the ABA Robert Yegge Award for Outstanding Contribution in Judicial Administration, the Liberty Bell Award of the North Carolina Bar Association, and the Order of the Long Leaf Pine (the highest award given to a civilian in North Carolina). He is an honorary member of the American Counsel Association.

Martin has been married to Kym Martin for over 30 years, and together they have raised five children.