Mark attended college at the University of Texas at Austin and graduated magna cum laude with a BBA in Finance.  After earning his law degree from the University of Texas School of Law in 1989, he accepted a position at the Austin law firm of Pope, Hopper, Roberts & Warren with a practice dedicated to trial and appellate court litigation involving real estate, banking, and business deceptive trade practices.  

Less than three years after graduating from law school, Mark had served as lead or co-counsel in two cases decided by the Texas Supreme Court and one by the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.  He has represented surviving family members in six 18-wheeler and automobile crash fatality cases.  Mark has also testified as an expert witness on personal injury claim valuation for the Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Trustee in Austin. 

In addition to his long history as a civil litigator, Mark successfully defended a federal court criminal case involving charges of money laundering and conspiracy to smuggle firearms.