Mark Lanier

Founder of The Lanier Law Firm

Mark Lanier is consistently recognized as one of the top civil trial lawyers in America. Best known as a zealous advocate for individuals in personal injury and product liability claims against major corporations, Mark brings passion, creativity and an unparalleled ability to connect with juries in courtrooms across the nation.

These results cumulatively put Mark close to $20 billion in verdicts during his highly acclaimed career.

Education

• B.A. – David Lipscomb University, 1981
• J.D. – Texas Tech University School of Law, 1984

Mark has been awarded honorary doctor degrees from St. Johns University, Pepperdine University and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.

Personal life

A devout Christian, Mark is also the founder of the Lanier Theological Library, one of the nation’s largest private theological collections. He teaches a weekly, 700-plus-member Sunday school class focusing on Biblical literacy at Champion Forest Baptist Church in Houston. Mark is also the founder of the Christian Trial Lawyers Association, a nonprofit organization working to create a network of principled attorneys to minister to others through civic-minded endeavors. Mark has also published several books on faith. These include Christianity on Trial (IVP, 2014) and a daily devotional book titled Psalms for Living: Daily Prayers, Wisdom, and Guidance (Baylor University Press, 2016), the latter of which was awarded the 2018 Illumination Book Award in the Devotional category. He followed this up with Torah for Living (Baylor University Press, 2018).

Mark considers his greatest achievement to be his family. He is the father of five wonderful children and lives in Houston with his wife, Becky.

Notable Cases

• In November 2017, Mark helped secure a $247 million verdict against DePuy Orthopaedics Inc., a subsidiary of health-care giant Johnson & Johnson, over Pinnacle metal-on-metal hip implants. The verdict was won on behalf of six New York residents who claimed they were injured by the faulty medical devices
• Mark secured a verdict exceeding $9 billion against Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. and Eli Lilly & Co. over the diabetes drug Actos.
  In 1993, Mark won a then-record $483 million verdict for a small oil company in a business-fraud case against one of the nation’s largest oil providers.
• Mark won a $258 million verdict in the nation’s first trial over the painkiller Vioxx, Ernst v. Merck, setting the tone for similar cases across the country. This verdict was followed by an additional two wins over the same drug, totaling more than $50 million.