Masters of the Bench

Martin H. Brinkley is the Dean and Arch T. Allen Distinguished Professor at the University of North Carolina School of Law.  Before returning to the law school in 2015, he clerked for Chief Judge Sam J. Ervin, III of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and practiced law for 22 years. Dean Brinkley served as President of the North Carolina Bar Association (2011-12) and acted as pro bono counsel to dozens of non-profit institutions.  He is a trustee of the North Carolina Symphony and the North Carolina Society, serves as Vice Chancellor of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina, and is a former Senior Warden, Junior Warden and Vestryman of Christ Church in Raleigh.  He is an elected member of the American Law Institute, an Honorary Master of the Bench of the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, and the 2017 recipient of the North Carolina Bar Association’s H. Brent McKnight Renaissance Lawyer Award. 

Dean Brinkley lives in Raleigh with his wife Carol.  They have three children.  He is an avid amateur classical pianist and chamber musician.