Leo Martinez became Acting Chancellor and Dean of UC Hastings College of the Law in July, 2009. He attributes his equanimical outlook to the fortunate circumstance of his birth and childhood in the pristine mountain air of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Dean Martinez 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.

Mr. Martinez 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 text on insurance law. He is a member of the American Law Institute.

Mr. Martinez received his undergraduate degree in math and physics from the University of Kansas and an M.S. in systems analysis from the University of Southern California. He is a graduate of Hastings, where he was elected to the Order of the Coif and Thurston Society and where he served as the Managing Editor of the Hastings Law Journal.