John C. Martin – North Carolina Court of Appeals

Full Name:  John C. Martin

Year of Induction:  2021

From 1977 to 1984 John C. Martin served as a North Carolina Superior Court Judge and in 1984 was elected to the the North Carolina Court of Appeals where he served until 1988.  He then practiced law in Durham, North Carolina with the firm of Maxwell, Martin, Freeman and Beason from 1988 to 1992.  In 1993, he returned as a judge with the North Carolina Court of Appeals and became Chief Judge in 2004, where he served until his retirement in 2014. He was elected President of the Council of Chief Judges of the State Courts of Appeal (CCJSCA) in 2013 after chairing its Education Committee and serving on the Executive Committee, as Treasurer, Vice President, and President-elect.  Since retiring from the bench in 2014, he continues to serve CCJSCA in various capacities including as member of the Retirement Committee, Chair of the Development Committee, attending annual conferences and assisting the Council in securing financial resources.

He graduated from Wake Forest University earning both his undergraduate degree and law degree.  After serving in the United States Army, he entered private law practice in 1969.

In 2013, he received the John J. Parker Award from the North Carolina Bar Association.  After his retirement in 2015, he was honored by the North Carolina Supreme Court Historical Society, “as a man who gave every bit of his considerable talent to his job, his court and his State, all day, every day.”