Partner Mark Weaver is an experienced litigator and legal advisor who has successfully represented thousands of clients. Whether it’s presenting a complex case to a jury or arguing in front of the Ohio Supreme Court, Mark uses creative persuasion, piercing logic, and his understanding of the law to bring about the best possible results for his legal clients.
Prior to entering private practice, Mark was the Deputy Attorney General of Ohio. Serving on the Attorney General’s Executive Staff, he helped manage the work of a legal office with 50,000 cases and 1,400 employees. Working with his colleagues in that office, he helped represent the state in several high-profile legal matters including the lawsuit against the tobacco industry, the Microsoft antitrust case, and several death penalty cases.
He has a statewide reputation in media law, public records and open meetings law, and First Amendment practice. For two decades, he taught media law at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. The Cleveland Plain Dealer called him “the guru of Ohio public records law.”
Mark also regularly practices in government and election law. He’s represented numerous judges, local government officials, and state lawmakers. He’s provided legal and litigation advice to the Ohio Attorney General, the Ohio Secretary of State, the Ohio Auditor of State, and the Ohio Treasurer of State. He’s also taught Election Law at the University of Akron.
Many business leaders hire Mark to assist when complex legal matters become high profile issues in the news media. His knowledge of the ethical issues surrounding what litigants are permitted to say in the press and social media helps his clients win both in the court of law as well as the court of public opinion. He teaches at the School of Government at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and the John Glenn College of Public Affairs at The Ohio State University.
Mark is often asked to act as a felony level Special Prosecutor in criminal cases around the state. In the courtroom presenting to a jury, the state parole board, and in courts of appeals defending convictions, Mark has prosecuted murderers, rapists, child molesters, and other violent criminals. To date, Mark has prosecuted crimes in a dozen Ohio counties, including prosecuting a serial killer whom he helped send to death row. He teaches Constitutional Law to the Ohio Public Safety Leadership Academy and has been a featured speaker for the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association, the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police, the Arizona Judicial Conference, the Michigan Judicial Conference, and the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association. By appointment, he serves as Acting Judge for both the Licking County Municipal Court and the Delaware Municipal Court, presiding when the judge is away from court. Between this work and nearly a dozen years as a Mayor’s Court Magistrate in multiple local courts, Mark has presided over thousands of misdemeanor criminal cases and sentenced thousands of defendants.
While Mark has practiced law in Ohio for three decades, he previously worked and practiced in both Washington, D.C. and his native state of Pennsylvania. National lawyer ranking service Martindale Hubbell, gave him the highest possible rating for legal skill and ethical judgement: “AV-Pre-eminent.”
Mark’s op-ed writing on law, courts, and other topics is regularly featured in national publications such as Newsweek, the Washington Post, and USA Today. He is the author of the award-winning book “A Wordsmith’s Work,” which has been favorably reviewed by the Ohio State Bar Association and others.
He and his wife Lori are the proud parents of two grown children.
Articles & Presentations
Articles
•Police Video and Public Records: The New Rules, May 3, 2021
•“Surviving the Kind of Crisis that Makes a Bad Yelp Review Seem Like a Love Note,” Modern Restaurant Management, May 21, 2019
•Column: Stanford sexual assault case far from surprising, June 21, 2016
•Opinion: Constitution gives Senate discretion, March 17, 2016
•BODY CAMERAS: Do their pictures mean a thousand words?, October 22, 2015
•LATEST FROM OHIO SUPREME COURT: Less Protection to Keep Public Employees Safe from Harm, April 7, 2015
•The danger of an overbroad view of the “overbroad” doctrine in Ohio public records law, November 26, 2014
•Baldwin’s Ohio Administrative Law Handbook, Public Records and Open Meetings Chapter, Annual edition 2003-2018.
•Ohio Attorney General’s Guide to Public Records and Open Meetings law, 1995-2002
•Mark has authored guest editorials on legal topics in many national publications, including:
•USA Today
•Newsweek
•Philadelphia Inquirer
•Baltimore Sun
•Atlanta Journal Constitution
•Boston Herald
•Columbus Dispatch
•Akron Beacon Journal
•Dayton Daily News
•Allentown Morning Call
•Newark Advocate
•Cincinnati Enquirer
•Human Events
•The Tennessean
•The Daily Caller
•Mansfield News Journal
•Las Vegas Review Journal
Presentations
•A frequent commentator on U.S. Supreme Court nominations and other legal and policy matters, Mark has been interviewed multiple times by every major national media outlet in America, including 60 Minutes, Nightline, ABC News, CBS News, NBC News, MSNBC, CNN, FOX News, NPR, USA Today, Newsweek, Time, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, and Reuters. He has also been interviewed internationally by major news outlets in Canada, Great Britain, France, Japan, Ukraine, and others.
•Mark presents to legal, law enforcement, government and industry groups dozens of times a year. His most common speaking engagements are sponsored by the National Fraternal Order of Police, the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police, the Ohio State Bar Association, the Jo Ann Davidson Leadership Institute, the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners, the John Glenn School of Public Affairs at The Ohio State University, and the Ohio Public Safety Leadership Academy.
•Mark is also a regular panelist on several Ohio news and public affairs TV programs, including “Columbus on the Record, “The State of Ohio,” and “NBC4 The Spectrum.”
Honors
•Named to Columbus CEO Magazine’s “Top Lawyer” List (2014-2020)
•“AV Preeminent”- Highest possible rating, Martindale Hubbell legal rating service
•Fellowship, Center for Study of the Presidency and Congress
•Kutztown University of Pennsylvania Student Government Board Outstanding Alumni Award
•Kutztown University of Pennsylvania Outstanding Young Alumni Award
•Kutztown University of Pennsylvania Outstanding Alumni Citation
•Honorary Certificate in Applied Politics, University of Akron
•Excellence in Teaching Award, Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police
•“Who’s Who in American Law”
