Faculty Directory
Mark D. Martin, J.D., LL.M.
Dean & Professor, School of Law757.352.4040contact meMore about Mark D. Martin, J.D., LL.M.THE REGENT LAW ADVANTAGE
Do you want your life to make a difference? To make the world a better place? To enjoy professional satisfaction and provide a good living for you and your family? I sure did. I was fortunate to become a judge at age 29 and to author hundreds of appellate opinions during my judicial career. I am grateful that I had these opportunities to serve, and I truly hope that my life so far has made a difference.
I am confident that you too aspire to make a difference. With so many law schools vying for your attention, why Regent Law? It is because of the Regent Law Advantage.
- 96% of Regent Law graduates were employed within 10 months of graduation (NALP 2020).
- 20th in the Nation, Ultimate Bar Passage (97%), 2019. Highest overall bar passage rate among all eight Virginia law schools in both July 2017 and February 2018.
- 14th in the Nation and #1 in Virginia, Judicial Clerkships (25%), 2020.
- Rated Top 5 in Nation: Interesting Professors and Top 7 in Nation: Professor Accessibility, Princeton Review.
- Learn from Regent Law School’s nationally-prominent faculty.
So, in addition to exceptional metrics indicating that you will get a job, pass the bar, and be practice-ready, there is still more to the Regent Law Advantage.
At Regent Law, we strive to love God, each other, and the world. You will experience a sense of kindness in this campus community that I believe will exceed your expectations and inspire you to make a difference.
Within this community, Regent Law will prepare you to become a purpose-driven, excellent lawyer—one who is thoughtfully educated in the law, thoroughly trained in legal skills, and professionally formed to provide meaningful, caring counsel to your clients and others. You will also learn how the law can be used to improve the human condition, and learn how it can be used to help change the world for the better.
Whether you desire to work as a prosecutor, defend the accused, become a civil litigator, be a business lawyer, battle human trafficking, fight the opioid epidemic, or serve in a governmental, non-profit, or political setting, Regent Law will strongly support you and help get you there. We will teach you a foundation of first principles of law, the Western legal and common law traditions, and American constitutionalism, while equipping you with the practical skills necessary to thrive in any law-related career. It’s that simple.
Let’s now consider student satisfaction. According to actual survey data, 95% of 3Ls evaluate their overall Regent Law experience as “excellent” or “good.” 93% would “definitely” or “probably” come to Regent Law again. And 96% say that Regent Law provided the support they needed to succeed academically “very much” or “quite a bit.” This gives Regent Law an “A” average in student satisfaction and puts us high above the national average.
Regent Law focuses on producing practice-ready lawyers. As I previously shared, Regent Law’s moot court program has been ranked as high as 5th in the nation. According to preLaw Magazine, we are one of the top 20 most innovative law schools and top 3 in practical training (2017), one of 20 law schools to receive an “A” rating for trial advocacy and litigation (2019), and 7th in the nation for Government job placement (2018).
Regent Law will also work hard to prepare you for the bar exam. Regent Law had the highest overall bar passage rate among all eight Virginia law schools in both July 2017 and February 2018. The Regent Law Class of 2019 had an 87.5% first-time passage rate on the July 2019 Uniform Bar Exam (UBE), which is used in 36 US jurisdictions and continues to be adopted by more states. In addition, our Honors students had a 100% bar passage rate in 2017, 2018, and 2019.
Most importantly, Regent Law will help catapult you into the job you desire. Indeed, 96% of Regent Law graduates were employed within 10 months of graduation (NALP 2020), and 24.6% of the Class of 2019 obtained judicial clerkships. Regent Law was in the top 25% of all law schools for federal judicial clerkship placements from 2014-2016. Whatever your career goals, we will work hard to optimize your placement.
Our academic centers reflect the belief that education must be holistic and extend Christian influence beyond the classroom.
- The Robertson Center for Constitutional Law, directed by Professor Bradley Lingo, leverages the expertise of faculty, students, and its global network of alumni and legal experts to promote freedom of speech, separation of powers, and religious freedom.
- The Center for Global Justice, directed by Professor Jeffrey A. Brauch, has placed more than 150 interns in just the past 5 years with public interest law firms, government agencies, and nonprofit legal organizations worldwide.
- The Center for Ethical Formation and Legal Education Reform, directed by Associate Dean for Academic Affairs L.O. Natt Gantt II and Professor Benjamin V. Madison, III, is at the forefront of the national movement to train ethical, professionally-formed attorneys. The Center has paired more than 600 students with judge or attorney mentors since its inception in 2013.
Furthermore, our Honors Program attracts highly qualified applicants and produces influential lawyers. The Honors classes of 2017, 2018, and 2019 have done exceptionally well, with a 100% bar passage rate and a perfect 10-month job placement rate—100% of Honors graduates secured full-time, long-term employment that either requires bar admission or in which a J.D. provides an advantage. And 35% of our Honors graduates in the Class of 2017 secured judicial clerkships.
Regent Law faculty are highly credentialed with degrees from schools such as the University of Chicago, Duke University, Georgetown University, Harvard University, the University of Virginia, Yale University, and, of course, Regent University. Our distinguished faculty includes influential lawyers who have made a difference, including John Ashcroft, Attorney General of the United States from 2001-2005, and Dr. Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice. While Regent faculty have extensive practice experience and engage in impressive legal scholarship, what truly sets them apart is their collective desire to integrate their Christian faith thoroughly in and outside the classroom and to mentor the next generation of lawyers.
Finally, Regent Law has a national and international network of accomplished alumni in the legal profession, including judges and justices, legislators, in-house counsel of major corporations, and, most importantly, well-trained lawyers who are changing the world for the better—one client, one case at a time.
I invite you to explore our core J.D. program as well as our innovative MA in Law and LLM programs in Human Rights and American Legal Studies.
Come experience the Regent Law Advantage so that you too can make a difference!
Dean & Professor, School of Law