Leo Martinez, Professor of Law

Professor Leo Martinez is a proud member of the UC Hastings Class of 1978. Following his graduation from UC Hastings, Professor Martinez met his military commitment as a member of the U.S. Army JAG Corps, he served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, and built a private practice focused on tax issues with the San Francisco law firm of Howard Rice, et al. He joined the UC Hastings faculty in 1985 and served as UC Hastings’ Academic Dean for 12 years.

Professor Martinez has been back in the classroom since 2006 interrupted in the 2009 to 2010 academic year when he served as UC Hastings’ Acting Chancellor and Dean. His teaching has included some combination of contracts, federal tax, tax policy, tax procedure, and insurance law. He is the author of the West casebook on insurance law and an editor of the four-volume treatise New Appleman Insurance Law and Practice Guide (Leo P. Martinez, Marc S. Mayerson & Douglas R. Richmond eds. LexisNexis 2008). He is a member of the American Law Institute and he is a past member of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) Executive Committee. He has conducted more than 20 separate site accreditation visits at American law schools on behalf of the American Bar Association Section on Legal Education and the AALS.

Outside of academia, Professor Martinez has been active in public service. He has chaired the boards of four different nonprofit organizations including Public Advocates, a San Francisco-based public interest law firm; the St. Francis Hospital Foundation; KQED, Inc. (now Northern California Public Broadcasting); and Public Radio Capital, a nonprofit organization dedicated to broadening the reach of public broadcasting. He is also a member of the boards of Access Group, a nonprofit originator of loans to graduate students enrolled in professional schools, and CollegeTrack, a Bay Area-based organization which provides mentoring for high school students living in low income areas.

Public Advocates has presented Professor Martinez with its highest award, the Voices of Conscience Award, for his leadership in the law and the public interest. He was the recipient in 2011 of the annual Latino/a Law Professors Award by the Latino/a Law Professors Group for his “outstanding contributions to the Latino/a community in general and Latino/a law professors in particular.” He has been honored for his service to UC Hastings with the establishment of a scholarship which bears his name and which was endowed by UC Hastings alumni and faculty.

Courses Taught: Tax, Insurance, and Contracts

Expertise: Contracts, Insurance, Tax, and Communications Law