Leo Martinez, Acting Chancellor and Dean

Dean Martinez’s professional background is varied.  He met his military commitment as a member of the Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps, he has had experience as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, and his private practice focused on tax issues with the San Francisco law firm of Howard Rice, et al.  His practice experience has ranged from criminal prosecution and defense to venture capital investment.  He joined the Hastings faculty in 1985 and succeeded Chancellor Mary Kay Kane as the Academic Dean.  Following 12 years in the Academic Dean’s Office, Dean Martinez returned to the classroom in 2006.  His teaching has included some combination of contracts, federal tax, tax policy, tax procedure, and insurance law.  He is a co-author of the West casebook on insurance law and he is a an editor of the three-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 member of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) Executive Committee.

Outside of academia, Dean Martinez has been active in public service.  He is currently board chair of Public Advocates, a San Francisco-based public interest law firm, and he also serves as board chair of the St. Francis Hospital Foundation.  He recently stepped down from the board of KQED, Inc. (now Northern California Public Broadcasting) for which he has served as Chairman of the Board.  Outside of the Bay Area, Professor Martinez serves as chair of the Board of Public Radio Capital, a non-profit organization dedicated to broadening the reach of public broadcasting.   He is also a member of the board of Access Group, a non-profit originator of loans to graduate students enrolled in professional schools.  Professor Martinez is a past member of the Board of Trustees of the World Affairs Council of Northern California, as well as a former board member of both St. Paul's School in Oakland, California and the Berkeley Law Foundation. 

Courses Taught: Tax, Insurance, and Contracts