W. Mark Lanier

Order of the Barristers. First Place, Best Oralist, ABA National Moot Court Competition. Texas Tech University School of Law Distinguished Alumnus, 2005. Named as "Texas Super Lawyer," Texas Monthly, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006. Listed in: 100 Most Influential Lawyers in America, National Law Journal, 2006; "Top 45 Lawyers Under the Age of 45," American Lawyer, 2003; "Top 5 Personal Injury Lawyers," "Go to" Lawyer for Personal Injury Texas Lawyer 'Go-To-Guide,' 2007; "Top 10 Trial Lawyers in America," National Law Journal, 1998, 2006; Who's Who in Executives and Professionals, 1998; "Top 40 Attorneys Under the Age of 40 In the United States," National Law Journal, 1995. Member: Board of Trustees, Committee for Economic Development; Foundation Board Attorney, Author, Teacher, Pastor and Expert Story Teller, W. Mark Lanier is no stranger to the public rostrum. He founded The Lanier Law Firm in 1990. Since then, Mark Lanier has earned international recognition as one of the top trial attorneys in the United States. Firm offices in Houston, New York City, and Los Angeles, California support his work for clients across the country.

Mark’s courtroom experience is significant as well as diverse. In 1993, Mark secured a $473 million verdict for a small oil company in a business fraud case against one of the nation's largest oil providers. His stunning verdict in the nation’s first Vioxx trial, Ernst v. Merck, led to a client verdict of $253 million that officially set the tone for the other cases, nationally. He followed up this record verdict with two more plaintiff verdicts against the pharmaceutical giant totalling over $50 million. Mark Lanier further obtained a nine-figure settlement for syringe manufacturer, Retractable Technologies, in an antitrust case against Becton Dickinson & Company. This case served as the basis for the movie Puncture, starring Chris Evans. His $118.3 million verdict on behalf of 21 asbestos victims in February 1998 is considered one of the largest asbestos verdicts in U.S. history. As recently as April of 2014, Mark again proved that he was not slowing down when he secured a staggering Actos verdict for $9 billion dollars against Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. and Eli Lilly & Co.

Mark’s peers and the media consistently recognize him among the country’s leading legal minds. The National Law Journal has twice named him one of the nation’s Top 10 Trial Attorneys, as well as one of the 100 Most Influential Lawyers in America of the Decade. Most recently they named Mark and The Lanier Law Firm to their Plaintiff’s Hot List in February 2015. The New York Times described him as “one of the top civil trial lawyers in America…” In October of 2012, he was awarded the coveted Clarence Darrow Award. U.S. News and World Report’s Best Lawyers has named Mark Lanier to its Best Lawyers in America list for ten consecutive years and most recently as the 2013 Top Class Action Attorney in America. He has been recognized as a Litigation Star in Benchmark Litigation in 2013, 2014 and 2015. He has earned similar honors from other publications, including being named to The Trial Lawyer Magazine’s America’s 100 Most Influential Trial Lawyers of 2011 and Mark also earned a spot on the 2012 Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business list. He also received special recognition as one of their “Leaders in Their Field” based on his work in product liability and mass tort cases. This annual guide to the best lawyers in the U.S. uses researchers to conduct independent interviews with thousands of lawyers and law firm clients. It is also noteworthy that U.S. News and World Report has named The Lanier Law Firm to its list of Best Law Firms over the last five years. He was most recently named the 2015 Trial Lawyer of the Year by The National Trial Lawyers and The Trial Lawyer magazine.

In addition to national recognition, Mark Lanier has earned accolades from his peers in Texas. In a statewide attorney survey published in Texas Monthly magazine, Mark Lanier has earned selection to the “Texas Super Lawyers” list in 2003 through 2014. Further he has been recognized, in “Texas Super Lawyers”, as one of the Top 10 Attorneys in Texas for several years and most recently in 2014. In 2002, 2007 and 2012, Texas Lawyer newspaper named Mark Lanier as one of the Top 5 “Go To” Personal Injury Plaintiff Attorneys in Texas. In the 2007 and 2012 editions of the same publication, which is published every five years, he was named The Top “Go To” Personal Injury Attorney. Mark is also the Recipient of the Texas Bar Foundation’s 2015 Ronald D. Secrest Outstanding Trial Lawyer Award. Texas Best Lawyers magazine has also him on their Texas Best Lawyers list for nine consecutive years including the 2013 list. Recently, Lanier received further recognition in the Verdict Search/Texas Lawyer Top 50 Verdicts of 2012. In 2010, Texas Lawyer named Mark as one of the Top 25 Attorneys of the Past Quarter Century.

What the news clips can't measure or define is Mark Lanier's commitment to and passion for his clients. Often motivated by injustice and by a sense of fair play, he has sought to even the score whether his client is an individual or a large corporation.

Mark’s courtroom work has resulted in feature articles in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, Bloomberg News, and the Houston Chronicle among others. He also is a frequent guest on news shows such as CNBC’s “Squawk Box” and Fox News’ “Your World with Neil Cavuto”. Additionally, he is a regular co-host and contributor to Fox Business News’ highly rated “Varney and Company” with Stuart Varney.

The Texas Board of Legal Specialization certifies Mark Lanier as a personal injury trial specialist. He is licensed to practice in all Texas State and federal courts, as well as the U.S. Supreme Court. He is also licensed to practice law in New York State. The Lanier Law Firm represents clients from all over the world in courtrooms across the United States. Mark frequently instructs other attorneys about his trial techniques and how to try better cases in seminars held across the nation. He is solicited often to be the featured lecturer at many of the nation’s top law schools including Harvard, Stanford, Pepperdine University, University of Chicago and Texas Tech University.

A strong supporter of his alma mater, Mark Lanier earned his law degree from Texas Tech University School of Law in 1984. He remains active at Texas Tech by serving on the Law School's Foundation Board. He was selected as the Texas Tech University School of Law Distinguished Alumnus for 2005. Mark Lanier was elected to The American Bar Association’s Fellows of the American Bar Association and was named a Life Fellow of the same organization in 2012. He is the founder of the Christian Trial Lawyers Association, a non-profit organization whose goal is to create a network of principled attorneys to minister to others through civic-minded endeavours.

Mark Lanier is the founder of the Lanier Theological Library (www.LanierTheologicalLibrary.org), one of the nation’s largest private theological collections. Also, Mark teaches a weekly, 700-plus-member Sunday school class focusing on Biblical Literacy at Champion Forest Baptist Church. He serves on the boards of the American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR) and the Albright Institute. An accomplished author, Mark recently published the book, Christianity on Trial (IVP 2014).

Mark is the father of five wonderful children and lives in Houston with his wife, Becky.