Mark was destined to become a litigator. He comes from a long line of liberals and idealists, and both of his parents instilled in him the drive to stand up for the underdog and a healthy fear of majority rule. Mark was born on September 15, 1974, in Kansas City. He graduated from Rockhurst High School, an all-boys college preparatory school run by Jesuit priests. From there he went on to Marquette University, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and became a member of the University’s Honors Program.

After college, Mark went on to Brigham Young University Law School in Provo, Utah. While at BYU, Mark was an executive editor of the Journal of Public Law, and he also tried misdemeanor criminal cases as a third year law student. Towards the end of Law School, Mark took, and excelled in, a class called Criminal Trial Practice. The instructor was a federal judge, who indicated to Mark that he had a gift for public speaking and being in the courtroom. He recommended to Mark the names of some excellent criminal and civil litigators in Salt Lake City, and the rest, as they say, is history.

A month after being admitted to the bar in Utah, Mark, at age 26, started his own law practice. He did so with $600.00 in the bank. Mark says, "I rented a little office in downtown Salt Lake City for $400.00 per month, and went to an office supply store and made 1,000 of the cheapest business cards they could make. I honestly think they said something like, Mark McBride, Attorney at Law, included my cell number, and indicated that I was available 24 hours a day.I handed out cards to every attorney I came across, and told them that I’d take anything."

Wanting to take on the big cases, six months after being admitted to the Utah Bar, Mark decided to move to Los Angeles and practice law there. Upon arrival in LA, and before being admitted to the California Bar, Mark did research and writing for some of LA’s best criminal lawyers. After being admitted to the California Bar in November 2003, Mark established his practice in Beverly Hills. Mark’s client list includes all walks of LA life – the rich, the poor, the underdog, the falsely accused, celebrities, and everyone in between. Mark is in court at least 3 mornings a week not just in Southern California, but throughout the state in federal and state cases, dealing with civil and criminal issues at both the trial and appellate levels. Mark explains: "Give me a client who nobody likes, or give me an issue which makes people crazy, and that’s when I’m at my best. For me, that is lawyering, and I don’t see it any other way."

Mark and his wife have two children and live in Culver City, California. They travel frequently, particularly back to Mark’s roots in the Midwest, where he reconnects with friends he has had since he was in early teens. "I love practicing law in the Los Angeles and throughout California," Mark explains, "but I never forget that I’m a Midwestern boy who grew up hunting and fishing, and I try to bring Midwestern values to each and every case I handle, no matter how controversial the client or issue at hand."

Mark McBride is Of Counsel to the firm.