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Bio:

Mark is intense and unrelenting.  He's always been that way.   When he was 17 years old, Mark graduated from high school early to join the U.S. Army.  He served three years in the Army, and was awarded two Army Achievement Medals and the Good Conduct Medal.  After that, Mark earned his college degree from Wayne State University in Detroit in less than three years.  Then, he attended the University of Houston Law Center, where he graduated cum laude, and was in the top 10% of his graduating class.  During law school Mark won American Jurisprudence Awards in his Insurance Law and Business Organizations classes.  He sold Encyclopedia Brittanica in Detroit, and delivered pizza in Houston, to help pay for school, so he could realize his dream of becoming a lawyer.  

Mark knows the law.  Mark is Board Certified in Labor & Employment Law by the Texas Board of Legal  Specialization. Beginning in 2009 and for every year following, Texas Monthly Magazine named him a “Super Lawyer,” a distinction given to a very small percentage of Texas lawyers. To see an overview of Mark's employment law experience click here.  In January 1998, Mark joined Seyfarth Shaw LLP, one of the largest and most respected labor and employment law firms in the United States.  Based on his proven results, Seyfarth Shaw LLP named Mark a partner in 2003.  Mark left Seyfarth Shaw LLP in June 2010 to pursue a vision he shares with Ed Sullivan:  To build and run a law firm that sets the standard for excellence in labor and employment law.

To Mark, practicing law and representing the Firm's clients is not work, but rather a passion and a privilege. It is also a lot of fun. Because of his attitude, Mark has often achieved winning results for his clients.  He has obtained summary judgments in dozens of cases for employers (see Mark's Relevant Texas and Other Employment Law Experience) and also has substantial first-chair trial experience. In May 2002, he first-chaired a four-day race discrimination jury trial that resulted in a verdict for his client. In March 2005, he first-chaired a three-day disability discrimination jury trial that resulted in a verdict for his client. Mark has also argued and won numerous appeals, including the published cases of Mason v. United Air Lines, Inc., 274 F.3d 314 (5th Cir. 2001) (an ADA case), Newsom v. Brod, 89 S.W.3d 732 (Tex. App.--Houston [1st Dist.] 2002, no pet.) (a defamation case), and Baker Hughes Oilfield Operations, Inc. v. Williams, 360 S.W.3d 15 (Tex. App.--Houston [1st Dist.] 2011, pet. denied) (a race discrimination case).

Due to his knowledge of the law and entertaining demeanor, Mark is frequently invited to speak at seminars on employment law issues. He has spoken at seminars sponsored by the National Employment Law Institute, the State Bar of Texas, South Texas College of Law, the University of Houston Law Foundation, Houston Bar Association, American Petroleum Labor Lawyers Association, Lorman Education Services, and the Council on Education in Management on a wide variety of HR and employment law topics, including the Americans with Disabilities Act, Title VII, the ADEA, Retaliation, the FMLA, the FLSA, Damages, Religious Discrimination, Pregnancy Discrimination, EEOC Practice and Litigation, Ethics, Covenants not to Compete, and Trade Secret law.

Education

J.D., University of Houston Law School, cum laude (1994) - Order of the Coif
B.A., Wayne State University (1990)

Admissions

State Bar of Texas (Labor and Employment Section)

Courts

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
All Federal District Courts of Texas
U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado

Affiliations

Texas Board of Legal Specialization (Labor and Employment)
 Houston Bar Association (Labor and Employment Section)