Maryela Martinez is an associate attorney with Parker & Covert LLP, providing legal counsel and support to clients regarding special education, land use, environmental, and municipal matters.

During law school, Ms. Martinez was an Articles Editor for the Columbia Human Rights Law Review.  She was also a participant in the First Year Moot Court Program, receiving the distinction of best oral argument.  In her second and third years of law school, Ms. Martinez was an instructor, editor, and judge of the same First Year Moot Court Program.

Ms. Martinez has concentrated her practice on a variety of land use, environmental, and municipal matters, including the California Environmental Quality Act, the Endangered Species Act, and public contracts.  She also has extensive state and federal litigation experience, before both trial and appellate courts, and has routinely appeared before administrative agencies, including city councils and planning commissions.  Ms. Martinez joins the firm having practiced law in large, medium, and small firms, as well as the public sector.  She was also a Member of the State Board of Education, giving her familiarity with the structure and administration of the California public school system.

In recognition of her legal career, Ms. Martinez was selected as a Southern California Super Lawyers Rising Star three years in a row (2005, 2006, and 2007), a recognition bestowed upon only 2.5% of young lawyers.

State Bar of California

United States District Court, Northern, Eastern, Central, and Southern Districts of California

Juris Doctor, Columbia University School of Law, New York, New York, 1996

Artium Baccalaureus, cum laude, with Harvard College Scholarships for Academic Achievement of High Distinction every semester, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1993

Maryela is a proud alumni of the Santa Ana Unified School District.