Mark Lanier
Top rated Class Action & Mass Torts attorney in Houston, Texas
Practice Areas:
Class Action & Mass Torts,
Business Litigation,
Personal Injury
Education Qualification:
Texas Tech University School of Law
Practice Areas:
Class action & mass torts,
Business litigation,
Personal injury
10940 W. Sam Houston Pkwy N, Suite 100Houston, Texas, 77064
First Admitted: 1985, Texas
Professional Webpage: https://www.lanierlawfirm.com/attorneys/w-mark-lanier/
Bar / Professional Activity:
- Lanier serves on the Board of Directors for the National Center for State Courts, a group dedicated to improving the administration of justice through leadership and service to the nation’s state courts. He also is the founder of the Christian Trial Lawyers Association, a nonprofit organization whose goal is to create a network of principled attorneys to minister to others through civic-minded endeavors. 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. Mark is President-elect of The National Trial Lawyers in 2017.
Verdicts / Settlements:
- A settlement for syringe manufacturer Retractable Technologies in an antitrust lawsuit against industry giant Becton, Dickinson and Company, the world’s largest manufacturer of medical syringes and needles.
- A settlement with a U.S. distributor of dangerous products imported from China.
- In March 2016, Lanier secured a $502 Million verdict in federal court in the initial bellwether trial against DePuy Orthopaedics and Johnson & Johnson over defective metal-on-metal hip implants.
- A substantial verdict for a small oil company in a 1993 business fraud case against one of the nation’s largest oil providers.
- 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., 2014
- A verdict on behalf of 21 asbestos victims in February 1998, considered one of the largest asbestos verdicts in U.S. history.
- The largest VIOXX verdict in history on behalf of the wife of a former marathon runner who died after taking the controversial drug for only a few months.
- In December 2016, Mark earned a $1 Billion combined jury verdict as the lead attorney in a products liability case over defective hip implants against defendant DePuy Orthopaedics Inc., a subsidiary of health care giant Johnson & Johnson.
Representative Clients:
- The Lanier Law Firm is currently pursuing proposed federal class-action litigation against the credit reporting agency Equifax for its 2017 data breach affecting roughly 143 million Americans and against pharmaceutical giant Mylan seeking damages for consumers victimized by the company’s controversial price increases for EpiPen injectors., 2018
- In the past two years, Mr. Lanier was lead trial counsel in three landmark verdicts in Texas federal court on behalf of multiple victims of metal-on-metal hip implants manufactured by Depuy Pinnacle, a division of Johnson & Johnson. In each highly complicated case, Mr. Lanier clearly presented complex evidence that persuaded jurors to conclude that the artificial hips manufactured by the defendants were defective and that company officials were aware of the flaws and failed to warn the public., 2018
- Mr. Lanier serves on the plaintiffs’ executive committee pursuing multi-district litigation against manufacturers and distributors of addictive opioid painkillers on behalf of local, county and regional governments., 2018
- Mark Lanier achieved a significant settlement from the Remington Arms Company and holds a leadership position with the plaintiffs’ committee in resolving litigation against the manufacturer for faulty trigger mechanisms that have led to hundreds of serious injuries., 2017
Scholarly Lectures / Writings:
- Lanier is Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. He is licensed to practice in all Texas state and federal courts, all New York state courts and the U.S. Supreme Court.
Pro bono / Community Service:
- 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 is enthusiastically involved in government and community activities outside the practice of law. Chairmen, presidents, and senior executives from major American corporations and universities often call on him for his respected business views on national and international issues. In 2011, Mark was also bestowed the distinguished Ambassador of Peace award by the Guatemalan government. Mark Lanier is the founder of the Christian Trial Lawyers Association and 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.
Honors:
- Mark’s peers and the media consistently recognize him among the country’s leading legal minds. In July 2018, Mark's $4.69 Billion verdict against Johnson & Johnson was the largest verdict in the country, as reported by VerdictSearch. 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. In 2018, NLJ named Mark Outstanding Trial Lawyer of the Year and Law360 recognized him on the elite list of MVPs for his work in Products Liability Litigation. In 2017, Mark was inducted into the Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame, by National Trial Lawyers. In December 2016, Lanier secured a verdict of more than $1 billion on behalf of six people who suffered serious medical complications caused by defective metal-on-metal hip implants made by Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary DePuy Orthopaedics Inc. The verdict includes more than $30 million in actual damages for the six plaintiffs and more than $1 billion in punitive damages. In March 2016, he secured a multi-million dollar verdict in federal court in the initial bellwether trial against DePuy and Johnson & Johnson over defective metal-on-metal hip implants. The December verdict ranks as the fourth largest in the nation in 2016, according to VerdictSearch and The National Law Journal, and both trial wins are ranked as the two largest products liability verdicts of the year. As a result, the firm received the “Outstanding Medical Device Award.” In February 2015, NLJ named Mark and The Lanier Law Firm to their Plaintiff’s Hot List. 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. Best Lawyers has named Mark Lanier to its Best Lawyers in America list since 2006, and as Lawyer of the Year in 2020 for Plaintiffs Product Liability Litigation, Lawyer of the Year in 2018 for Mass Torts/Class Actions, and Lawyer of the Year in 2017 and 2024 for Plaintiffs Personal Injury Litigation. He was also named Lawyer of the Year in 2012, 2016 and 2024 for Plaintiffs Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions. He has been recognized as a Litigation Star in Benchmark Litigation in 2013- 2022. 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 he was selected as the 2015-2019 Trial Lawyer of the Year by The National Trial Lawyers and The Trial Lawyer magazine. Mark also earned a spot in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business list in 2012-2021. 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. 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 2023, by Thomson Reuters. Further he has been recognized, in “Texas Super Lawyers”, as one of the Top 10 Attorneys in Texas. In 2002, 2007 and 2012, Texas Lawyer newspaper named Mark Lanier among 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 statewide. Mark is also the Recipient of the Texas Bar Foundation’s 2015 Ronald D. Secrest Outstanding Trial Lawyer Award. In 2010, Texas Lawyer named Mark as one of the Top 25 Attorneys of the Past Quarter Century., Numerous
Educational Background:
- Lanier earned his law degree from Texas Tech University School of Law in 1984.
Scholarly Lectures / Writings:
- An accomplished author, Mark has published two books focused on integrating Christian faith into daily life: Christianity on Trial (IVP 2014) and Psalms For Living (2016).
- The Lanier Trial Academy is a 3-day conference for plaintiffs lawyers and the past three annual events were held in The Woodlands, Texas. There, plaintiffs’ attorneys learned courtroom strategies from Mr. Lanier, who in 2018 won the largest verdict in the nation, and in 2017 was selected to the National Trial Lawyers’ Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame. With the Lanier Trial Academy entering its fourth year, the Lanier Law Firm has announced that proceeds from this year’s event will once again benefit Guatemala SANA Children’s Project, a nonprofit which provides healthcare services as well as education to children in rural Guatemala. , Lanier Trial Academy, Plaintiffs Lawyers, 2019
Other Outstanding Achievements:
- The Lanier Law Firm was named one of the nation’s 25 Most Influential Law Firms for 2017 by the National Trial Lawyers.
- In 2017, Mark was inducted into the Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame, by National Trial Lawyers, which recognizes outstanding attorneys who leave an indelible mark on the American legal tradition through a lifetime of service to the public, the Constitution, and the trial bar. Although attorneys previously had to be 60 or older, that requirement was waived for the 56-year-old Mr. Lanier.
Industry Groups:
- Business Litigation
- Energy
- Entertainment
- Oil And Gas
- Sport
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