Chief Justice Martin's distinctions within the North Carolina judiciary include: (1) installed at age thirty-five as the youngest associate justice in the history of the NC Supreme Court; (2) installed at age thirty-one as the youngest associate judge in the history of the NC Court of Appeals; and (3) installed at age twenty-nine as the youngest superior court judge since the Colonial Era.

He authored and collaborated on key decisions involving separation of powers, the First Amendment, and the Second Amendment, including:

o Hart v. State: upholding school choice scholarship program, a decision theWall Street Journal praised in an editorial (WSJ Editorial).

o Bacon v. Lee: preserving Executive Branch authority under NC State Constitution in challenge brought by death row inmates.

o Britt v. State: concurring in majority’s invalidation of statute that unconstitutionally infringed upon plaintiff’s right to bear arms.

o Kaplan v. Prolife Action League: rejecting, in the face of a forceful dissent, civil law fare claim asserted against peaceful protesters.

o Cooper v. Berger: dissenting from majority’s invalidation of nonpartisan elections board under NC State Constitution.

Chief Justice Martin has served as Dean and Professor at two law schools during which he co-taught a law course on constitutional interpretation for three years with United States Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr. He also filed an amicus brief with the late Ken Starr in an important religious liberty case (Fulton v. City of Philadelphia) at the Supreme Court of United States.