Mark practices full-time in the areas of electronic discovery, records management and data protection. He supports clients’ IT and compliance departments as well as their law departments and outside trial counsel. Mark’s clients cover a wide range of sizes and industries, from manufacturing to financial services and from technology to entertainment. The depth of his involvement ranges from quick tasks, such as commenting on a draft hold notice, to long-term engagements as national eDiscovery counsel.

Recent projects that Mark has completed for clients include:

• Creating policies and procedures for records retention, legal holds, email management, and disaster recovery.
• Promoting productive and defensible uses of mobile devices and social media.
• Defensibly disposing of documents and electronically stored information (ESI) that are no longer needed to conduct business or comply with legal obligations.
• Supporting outside trial counsel at a variety of firms in addition to SHB.
• Preparing (or commenting on drafts of) legal hold notices, protective orders, discovery plans, case management orders, and discovery manuals.
• Limiting custodians and keywords; negotiating efficient production specifications.
• Ensuring data privacy and security during litigation and in the usual course of business.
• Proposing and selecting eDiscovery vendors.
• Defensibly eliminating irrelevant documents and ESI from collection and review.
• Nimbly reviewing documents and ESI for responsiveness, confidentiality, and privilege.
• Creating and complying with budgets and alternative fee arrangements for the services listed above.

Consistent with SHB’s team approach, Mark understands the importance of assigning tasks to the most appropriate timekeeper level so that work is completed as efficiently and inexpensively as possible.

A former newspaper reporter, Mark is a long-time legal writing instructor at the firm. He also has taught advanced legal writing at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law.

Mark is a founding member and former chair of SHB’s Professional Development Committee, on behalf of which he has produced hundreds of seminars and workshops. His current outlet for these interests is to present complimentary onsite CLEs for existing and prospective clients on topics such as predictive coding, ethics and discovery techniques.

Speeches and Panel Discussions

Requests for Production – Respond with Caution! How Responses to RFPs Can Greatly Reduce the Cost of Document Collection, Processing, Review and Production, SHB Corporate Counsel Institute (Kansas City - February 2013).

Electronically Stored Information Panel, Kansas Association of Defense Counsel’s 34th Annual Conference (Kansas City - December 2012).

Practical, Cost-Saving Suggestions for Small to Mid-Size Document Productions (October 2012).

Predictive Coding: Losing the Spin & Finding Practical Uses (September 2012).

At the Intersection of Ethics & Technology (September 2012).

Today’s Front Lines in Electronic Discovery, SHB Corporate Counsel Institute (Kansas City - April 2012).

Email Do’s and Don’ts, SHB Corporate Counsel Institute (Kansas City - February 2011).

Everything You Wanted to Know About Contracting with Vendors Before You Become Too Frightened to Ask, The Third Annual Institute on eDiscovery: Practical Solutions for Dealing with Electronically Stored Information (Chicago – May 2009).

School of Docs (April 2009).

The World of eDiscovery (St. Louis - October 2008).

A Discussion of Key Protocols for Employers in Connection with eDiscovery Matters, SHB Teleconference CLE (July 2008).

Data Privacy & Security: Locally, Nationally and Internationally, SHB Hot Topics CLE (June 2008).

Backstage at the Big Show: Planning Off-Site CLE Events, Professional Development Institute (Washington, D.C. – November 2007).

Management Fundamentals for Professional Development, Professional Development Institute (Washington, D.C. – December 2005).

Collaborating with Local and State Bar Associations: Can’t We All Just Get Along? Better Yet, Let’s Work Together!, The Association for Continuing Legal Education (Washington, D.C. – July 2005).

Litigation Training: Principles and Strategies, Professional Development Consortium (Chicago – July 2004).

Beyond Flip Charts and Markers: Technological Possibilities That Can Improve Your Programs and Make You IT-Independent, Professional Development Consortium (Austin – January 2004).

Designing Programs for Senior Associates and Partners: Beyond “Introduction to . . . ,” The Association for Continuing Legal Education (San Francisco – August 2003).

Putting the Pieces Together: Curriculum Building and Planning, Professional Development Consortium (Montreal – July 2002).

Co-author, Beware the Dangers of a “Hands-Off Approach” to Document Collections, 21:2 RX for the Defense, May 2013. View

Co-author, Court Orders Class Action Plaintiffs to Share Defendant’s Discovery Costs, 2012. View

Co-author, E-discovery obligations in US product liability litigation, The In-House Lawyer, 2011/12. View

Co-author, Drafting a Document Retention Policy, The Practical Law Journal, 2011.

Co-author, Contracting with the eDiscovery Vendor, 2009. View

Co-author, A Primer for Data-Protection Principles in the European Union, included in materials for DRI's Culture Clash! Data Protection, Freedom of Information and Discovery - How to Protect Your Business in Transnational Disputes (Munich – May 2009). View

Federal Cases Applying Daubert Standard for Admissibility of Expert Testimony, 1993-99.

States That Have Adopted or Rejected Daubert Standard for Admissibility of Expert Testimony, 1993-99.

Mark is admitted to practice before the state courts of Missouri and the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri.

1983   J.D., with distinction, University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law

1978   B.J., University of Missouri