News Archive

Carlton Martin, J.D. ’12, has been named to the National Bar Association’s list of Nation’s Best Advocates Top 40 Under 40 honorees for 2023.

Martin is the pro bono director of the National Center on Homelessness & Poverty in Washington, D.C. He began his legal career in public interest law, working as an attorney and coordinator for the Neighborhood Christian Legal Clinic and it’s Project GRACE (Guided Re-entry Assistance and Community Education) initiative. From there, he worked as a deputy public defender for the Public Defender of the State of Indiana before moving into a role as a staff attorney for the Indiana Supreme Court. At the court, he managed two major projects. The Coalition for Court Access provides an organizational structure for the state’s civil legal aid programs and pro bono delivery, and the Indiana Conference on Legal Education Opportunity (ICLEO), which helps minority, low-income, and educationally disadvantaged students with pursuing a law degree in Indiana. Regarding ICLEO, in a lot of ways Martin had come full circle: He was an ICLEO Fellow in Summer 2009 before attending IU McKinney. While at the Supreme Court, Martin also drafted a rule to expand the pool of pro bono attorneys in the state.

The National Bar Association’s 40 Under 40 Nation’s Best Advocates Awards recognize the nation’s top 40 lawyers under the age 40 who exemplify a broad range of high achievement in the legal profession, including in advocacy, innovation, vision, leadership and overall legal and community involvement. Recipients will be honored at a gala on August 2 during the association’s annual meeting in Minneapolis. It is the nation’s oldest and largest global network of predominantly Black American attorneys and judges. It represents the interests of approximately 67,000 lawyers, judges, law professors, and law students.