Mark Allen Davis (born October 25, 1966) is an American attorney and jurist. He has served as an associate justice of the

North Carolina Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of North Carolina is the state of North Carolina's highest appellate court. Until the creation of the North Carolina Court of Appeals in the 1960s, it was the state's only appellate court. The Supreme Court consists ...

(2019-2020) and previously as a Judge of the

North Carolina Court of Appeals The North Carolina Court of Appeals (in case citation, N.C. Ct. App.) is the only intermediate appellate court in the state of North Carolina. It is composed of fifteen members who sit in rotating panels of three. The Court of Appeals was create ...

. Davis currently serves as Special Superior Court Judge for Complex Business Cases on the North Carolina Business Court.

Education and early career

Following receipt of his undergraduate degree from the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

, Davis earned his J.D. degree from the

University of North Carolina School of Law The University of North Carolina School of Law (branded as Carolina Law) is the law school of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Established in 1845, it is one of the oldest law schools in the United States and is the oldest law sch ...

where he was a member of the ''North Carolina Law Review''. He served as a law clerk for U.S. District Judge Franklin Dupree in the

United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina The United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina (in case citations, E.D.N.C.) is the United States district court that serves the eastern 44 counties in North Carolina. Appeals from the Eastern District of North Caroli ...

. From 2006 until 2011, Davis was a special deputy

attorney general In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

. He also spent 13 years in private practice.

Judicial experience

Davis was appointed by Governor

Bev Perdue Beverly Marlene Eaves Perdue (née Moore; January 14, 1947) is an American businesswoman, politician, and member of the Democratic Party who served as the 73rd governor of North Carolina from 2009 to 2013. She was the first female governor o ...

to serve as a Judge of the

, taking office in January 2013. He was appointed to fill the vacancy caused by Judge

Cheri Beasley Cheri Lynn Beasley (born February 14, 1966) is an American attorney and jurist who served as the chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court from 2019 to 2020 as well as an associate justice from 2012 to 2019. She was defeated by Paul Mar ...

's appointment to the

. Davis served as Gov. Perdue's General Counsel for the last two years of her term in office. On March 11, 2019, Governor

Roy Cooper Roy Asberry Cooper III ( ; born June 13, 1957) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 75th List of governors of North Carolina, governor of North Carolina from 2017 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), De ...

appointed Davis to again fill a seat left vacant by Cheri Beasley. After Gov. Cooper appointed Beasley as Chief Justice, he appointed Davis to fill her seat as an associate justice of the Supreme Court. In the 2020 general election, Davis lost his bid for a full term on the Supreme Court. In 2021, Governor Cooper nominated Davis for a special superior court judgeship, subject to confirmation by both houses of the state legislature.

Electoral history

2020

2014

Writings

*''A Warren Court of Our Own: The Exum Court and the Expansion of Individual Rights in North Carolina'' (Carolina Academic Press 2019)Duke Law School: Justice Mark A. Davis LLM’18 started a thesis and ended up with a book
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References

External links

Justice Mark Davis campaign site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Mark Allen 1966 births 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American judges 21st-century American lawyers Justices of the North Carolina Supreme Court Living people North Carolina Court of Appeals judges North Carolina Democrats North Carolina lawyers University of North Carolina School of Law alumni