Practice Areas
Associations
About Derek Martin
Experience
Assistant Public Defender – January 2014 – February 2017
Hinds County Public Defender’s Office, Jackson, Mississippi
- First chair trial experience.
- Handle arraignments, pleas, revocations, bond setting and preliminary hearings.
- Establish close contact with clients by regular visits to correctional institutions.
- Perform as trial counsel by representing clients during courtroom proceedings.
- Communicate with client to determine trial strategy such as cross-examination procedures, witness selection, jury selection, testimony decisions and opening and closing statements.
Law Clerk II – August 2011 – January 2014
Winston L. Kidd Circuit Court Judge, Jackson, Mississippi
- Researched substantive issues of Mississippi’s Open Carry Law.
- Drafted opinions regarding public employee retirement benefits.
- Drafted memorandums, opinions and orders with regards to civil and criminal cases.
- Conferred with the judge and administrative staff regarding legal issues.
Education
Mississippi College School of Law, Jackson, Mississippi
Doctor of Jurisprudence, May 2011
- Moot Court Board 2010-2011
- Best Oralist, Southern Regional Conference Mock Trial Competition
- Dean’s List
- Quarter Finalist, Southern Regional Conference Mock Trial Competition
- Member, Phi Alpha Delta Legal Fraternity
Tougaloo College, Tougaloo, Mississippi
Bachelor of Art summa cum laude, May 2008
- Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society
- Fellow, Council on Legal Education Opportunity
Memberships
- National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
- Mississippi Public Defenders Association
- Gideon’s Promise Graduate
- Jackson Young Lawyers Association
Licensure
- Texas: Admitted in 2015
- Mississippi: Admitted in 2012
