Disclaimer: This person served as a panelist at a HELI event. This profile was created for their involvement on that event page only. This person is not a member, partner, or colleague of the HELI Initiative, but only served in the capacity of a panelist at the panel event.

After graduating from high school in Rowan County, Mark earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2006 followed by his law degree from Campbell University in 2009.  He joined Wallace & Graham in September 2009 shortly after being admitted to the North Carolina State Bar.

Since then, he has represented hundreds of workers who have developed a cancer or other illness related to benzene, asbestos, noise, and other toxic exposures at work.  For these individuals, he has achieved favorable outcomes at the North Carolina Industrial Commission, North Carolina state courts, as well as various federal courts.

In addition, from 2013-2020, he was deeply immersed in the firm’s swine nuisance litigation against Smithfield Hog Production, where the firm represented more than 500 eastern North Carolina residents in their fight against the world’s largest hog producer.  This team tried and won five federal jury trials in Raleigh in 2018-19, amassing more than $550 million in verdicts.  Smithfield appealed the verdicts, but lost, and then finally settled with all our plaintiffs.  For his work in this litigation, Mark was among the team that was named Public Justice’s 2020 Trial Lawyer of the Year.

Active in the community, Mark serves in leadership roles on numerous boards and organizations including as Past President of the Rowan County Bar (District 19-C), Vice President of the Meals On Wheels Rowan board, and most recently joined the Novant Health Foundation board.  He previously served on the North Carolina Bar Association's Wills For Heroes committee, traveling all over North Carolina to draft free estate-planning documents for firefighters and other first responders.

He has done pro bono work, both legally and politically, for Partners In Learning, a five-star nationally-accredited childcare center in Salisbury. Most significantly, in 2021 he initiated and led the effort which secured nearly $5 million in funds from the 2021-22 state budget.  Those funds helped build Partners’ new state-of-the-art $12 million facility which opened in October 2023, greatly expanding and improving childcare services in Rowan County for decades to come.

Mark lives in Salisbury with his wife Allison, two children Cate and Myers, and dog Drew.  Whenever humanly possible, they all enjoy traveling, attending Tar Heels sporting events, or most any other outdoor activity with family or friends.