A.J. Bellido de Luna is the Assistant Dean for Advocacy & Dispute Resolution and Hardy Service Professor of Law at St. Mary’s University School of Law. He teaches Trial Advocacy, Arbitration, Trial Skills and Negotiation courses. He directs the law school’s Advocacy Program National Team consisting of The National Moot Court Team, National Trial Team, National Dispute Resolution Team, Jessup International Moot Court Team, and is the faculty advisor to the Board of Advocates.
Bellido de Luna practiced law in Maryland with the Law Offices of G. Russell Donaldson and Palmer Cooper and was the Managing Director of the Clinical Law Program of the University of Maryland School of Law and a Special Prosecutor for Baltimore City. He joined the University of Maryland School of Law full-time in 2008 as the Managing Director of the Clinical Law Program and the Director of the National Trial Team. As a Clinical Law Instructor and Lecturer in Law, Professor Bellido de Luna taught the General Practice Clinic as well as Advanced Trial Advocacy. During his tenure as coach and director, he led the program to their first Tournament of Champions victory.
Prior to joining St. Mary’s University, Bellido de Luna was the Board Executive Officer for the Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners, where he supported the board in directing and facilitating the district’s strategic direction and managing effective and efficient operations in the areas of board governance and oversight. Bellido de Luna provided high-level professional, managerial and operational advice to the board. He helped oversee the management and implementation of the district’s legislative agenda and served as the point of contact for intergovernmental affairs. Bellido de Luna trained and supervised the district’s hearing examiners.
Bellido de Luna is a former Marine and retired police lieutenant. During his law enforcement career, he served in command positions and supervised Traffic Enforcement & Accident Reconstruction, and spent several years as a child abuse detective.
In 2020, he was elected Vice President as part of the inaugural leadership for the National Association of Legal Advocacy Educators (NALAE) and is now the Immediate Past Pressident.
