OVERVIEW

As the brat of a career Naval flight instructor, carrier and blimp pilot, nuclear weapons officer, meteorologist and oceanographer, Mark spent his formative years moving to Navy bases on both coasts and to a joint NAS/French Foreign Legion base in Port Lyautey, Morocco.  Mark is honored and privileged to assist Cobb veterans as a practicing lawyer, having previously donated a 501(c)(3) corporation, the Bravo Victor Fund, Ltd., as an adjunct to Cobb County Military Court.

He splits his practice between civil trial and transactional work, emphasizing business law and the representation of closely-held and family businesses, including estate and transition planning.  Significant practice milestones include the 7 year zoning approval of the 440 acre mixed use development at Sandy Plains and Shallowford Roads, anchored by the first Publix in Georgia; lawyering the Cobb County art exhibition From Ivan The Terrible To Peter The Great, utilizing icons, tapestries, jewels, manuscripts and central Iconostasis from the Novedevichy Convent from the State Historical Museum, Moscow, Russian Federation; Representing the parents in the first gestational surrogacy (1991), the first artificial insemination surrogacy (1992), and the first donor surrogacy (1999) in the state of Georgia; serving as General Counsel for Corporate Holdings, LLC (“Holdings”), and as Legal Counsel for Williams Realty Advisors, LLC (“Advisors”); Holdings managed a high net worth individual’s investments, international transactions and philanthropy; Advisors managed real estate development and acquisition funds with $3 billion in assets; Prevailed 16 times in published appellate decisions.

EDUCATION, SERVICE AND/OR PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS

• BA (Journalism), UNC (Chapel Hill), Phi Beta Kappa, ACC Honor Roll, NCAA Division 1 Soccer, 1976
• JD/MBA, University of Georgia, Sigma Iota Epsilon, 1979/1980
• LLM (Taxation), Emory University Law School, 1987
• State Bar of Georgia member, 1979 to present
• Mediator/Neutral, Georgia Office of Dispute Resolution, 2008

RELEVANT PERSONAL AND/OR COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES

• Martindale Hubbell AV Peer Review Rating, Georgia Super Lawyer, James Magazine/Insider Advantage
• State Bar of Georgia (Business Court and Bridge the Gap Committees)
• Cobb County Bar Association (Board of Trustees, President of the Business Law and Litigation Section)
• Georgia Charter Educational Foundation Governing Board
• Leadership Cobb, Coverdell Leadership Institute/Republican Leadership of Georgia
• Hospital Authority of Cobb County Board Member, Wellstar Regional Health Board
• Cobb County Ordinance Review Committee
• Marietta Metro Rotary, Board Member, Paul Harris Fellow
• Addressing the Annual Conferences of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine in San Diego and Philadelphia, as well as the annual conclave of Georgia’s Superior Court Judges on legal issues related to Assisted Reproductive Technology
• Georgia Ducks Unlimited Area Chairman of the Year
• Federalist Society
• Junior High and High Sunday School Teacher, St James Episcopal, Marietta First United
• Methodist Church Council