ABOUT

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.
Attorney Derek Martin

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
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