Judge Beverly Martin, who stepped down from the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit at the end of September, is joining NYU Law’s Center on Civil Justice (CCJ) as its executive director. CCJ is dedicated to the study of the US civil justice system and how the system can continue to fulfill its purposes. Founded in 2014, CCJ draws on the expertise of NYU Law faculty in procedure and complex litigation, as well as on a board of advisers composed of leading practitioners and judges, to identify problems most deserving of further investigation and engagement, and to fill a void in scholarly and policy analysis.
“The leadership of the center will benefit enormously from Judge Martin’s experience as a respected jurist, prosecutor, and private attorney,” says Dean Trevor Morrison. “I’m thrilled to welcome her to the NYU Law community.”
Judge Martin served on the Eleventh Circuit for 11 years, and prior to that was a judge on the US District Court for the Northern District of Georgia from 2000 to 2010. Before taking the bench, from 1984 to 2000, she served as an assistant US attorney, and then US attorney, in the Middle District of Georgia. She also spent a decade as an assistant attorney general for the State of Georgia. Judge Martin began her legal career at Martin, Snow, Grant & Napier in Macon, Georgia, where, she notes, she was the fourth generation in her family to practice at the firm.
Judge Martin is no stranger to the Law School, having served as an interviewer of candidates for Root-Tilden-Kern public interest scholarships. “In that process,” she says, “I have become a tremendous admirer of the NYU Law community. I am thrilled to now become associated with the Center on Civil Justice, and look forward to supporting the good and important work the center has been doing. She adds: “During my 21 years as a federal judge, I’ve seen so many people who need the help of the courts on account of the worst thing that has happened in their life. It means a lot to me to be able to participate in the center’s work on access to justice.”
At CCJ, Judge Martin will work closely with the center’s faculty co-directors: Reiss Professor of Constitutional Law Samuel Issacharoff, Professor of Law Troy McKenzie, University Professor and Warren E. Burger Professor of Constitutional Law and the Courts Arthur R. Miller, and Stuyvesant P. Comfort Professor of Law Geoffrey Parsons Miller.
Issacharoff, who appeared before Judge Martin as a litigator, recalls that she was “a tough questioner, meticulously prepared, and filled with the real-world insights that make a great judge.” It is, he says, “a great stroke of fortune for NYU to bring her into our endeavors.”
Posted October 4, 2021