Law School
California Western School of Law, 1985
Cum Laude

Undergraduate
College of William & Mary, 1982

Expertise

Practice Focus

Founding partner Mark E. Ellis is a trial lawyer and litigator whose practice embraces civil litigation in both state and federal courts. He has tried more than 50 cases.

Mr. Ellis regularly defends professionals sued for malpractice, malicious prosecution, ethics violations, and other professional wrongdoing. Mr. Ellis has defended hundreds of malpractice cases, taking more than 30 to trial or arbitration. As of the spring of 2008, he has never lost a legal malpractice case that reached final determination by jury verdict or court judgment.

Mr. Ellis also handles financial institution, business and commercial litigation, including complex litigation involving class actions under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23 and under California's Unfair Competition Law, Business and Professions Code, Section 17200. His practice includes commercial and consumer litigation in state and federal courts related to the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the Fair Credit Reporting Act, as well as their state equivalents.

In 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007, Mr. Ellis was chosen by other attorneys as one of the top 5 percent of lawyers practicing in Northern California, and was named a Northern California "Super Lawyer" in San Francisco Magazine.

Mr. Ellis' practice includes the representation of clients before the appellate courts. A former appellate law clerk, Mr. Ellis has handled more than 50 appeals before state and federal appellate courts. In February 2006, he was one of the winning attorneys in Rusheen v. Cohen (2006) 37 Cal.4th 1048, a decision by the California Supreme Court. Increasingly, his practice includes representing plaintiffs in serious personal injury actions.

Mr. Ellis has participated in dozens of trials and/or binding arbitrations. He has won approximately 90 percent of those trials or arbitrations that reached decision.

Education

Mr. Ellis earned his Bachelor's degree in Government from the College of William & Mary in 1982.

He received his J.D. from California Western School of Law in 1985, graduating cum laude.

In law school, Mr Ellis also:

• Received the Diane Gafford Ethics Award upon graduation (1985)
• Received the Lloyd Griffin Ellis Scholarship (1984, 1985)
• Served on the Law Journal as a published member of the staff (1983-1984) and then as Head Lead Articles Editor (1984-1985)
• Served as a Legal Writing Honor's Instructor (1983-1984)

Work History

• Judicial Clerkship (1985-1987): Washington State Court of Appeals, Division III, to the Hon. Ray E. Munson
• Associate, Partner, Shareholder (1987-2006): Murphy, Pearson, Bradley & Feeney

• Partner (2006-Present): Ellis, Coleman, Poirier, LaVoie & Steinheimer, LLP

• Bloom v. HBCW (September/October 2007) Legal Malpractice – Defense verdict for client law firm after a five-week jury trial; verdict for client law firm on fee cross claim for full amount of the claim.
• Challas v. Goetz (July 2007) Bankruptcy – Favorable ruling for client after a bench trial.
• State Bar v. JB (May-August 2007) Involuntary Enrollment Proceeding – Determination in favor of client attorney denying the State Bar’s demand for involuntary enrollment after 5-day trial.

• McKee v. Eskanos & Adler (December 2006) Fair Debt Collection Practice Act (FDCPA) defense. Defense verdict obtained for client law firm sued for allegedly violating the FDCPA after 6 day jury trial in Federal District Court for the Central District of California.
• Kubat v. Henderson(May 2006) Legal Malpractice and Breach of Fiduciary. Nonsuit entered in favor of client attorney during second week of trial.
• Ellis v. Grant and Weber (April 2006) FCRA Defense. $1.5 million claim settled during second week of trial for nominal settlement.

• Andrews v. Shearer (February 2006) Plaintiff Personal Injury. Settlement in favor of client plaintiff for $1,350,000
• Ruiz v. Citrus Grove (March 2005) Plaintiff Wrongful Death. Settlement in favor of client plaintiffs in excess of $1,700,000.
• Denny v. Latham (May/June 2005) Wrongful Death Defense. Jury verdict entered in favor of client defendant after three week jury trial.
• Loduca v. Polyzos, dba QMC (October 2004) Breach of Contract. Judgment in favor of client following trial.
• Campos v. Wells Fargo Bank (August 2004) Commercial. Judgment entered in favor of client bank after adversarial trial in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
• Hall v. U.S. Express (March 2004) Plaintiff Personal Injury. Settlement during second week of trial in excess of $850,000 in favor of client personal injury victim.
• ANPAC v. Mason & Thomas (Jan/Feb 2004) Legal Malpractice and Breach of Contract. Jury verdict entered in favor of law firm clients after three-week jury trial in U.S. District Court.
• Wells Fargo Bank v. Tyson (Spring 2003) Commercial. Judgment in favor of client bank in excess of $350,000; cross-complaint against bank dismissed.
• Holesapple v. Shepard & Haven (November 2002) Legal Malpractice. Action dismissed against attorney clients; settlement in favor of client attorneys on the fee cross-claim in excess of $480,000.
• Kinsey v. Viega (March 2002) Legal Malpractice and Breach of Fiduciary Duty. Judgment in favor client attorney during trial.
• Campbell v. Zumbrun (July-November 2001) Judgment entered in favor of client attorney after 5-month trial on legal malpractice claim; judgment entered on fee cross-claim in favor of client in excess of $2,400,000.
• Greenwell v. David Allen & Assoc. (April & June 2000) Judgment entered for client attorneys after 2-month jury trial on legal malpractice claim.
• Wang v. Grodin (April 1999) Legal Malpractice/Malicious Prosecution/Abuse of Process. Nonsuit granted in favor of client attorney during trial.
• Bregman v. Seligman (November 1997) Legal Malpractice. Dismissal in favor of client attorneys during jury trial.
• Gunderson v. Valente (September 1997) Legal Malpractice. Verdict for client attorney following jury trial.

• Johnson v. Credit International (9th Cir. 2007) 2007 WL 3332813 (FDCPA)
• Pintos v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n, (9th Cir. 2007) _____ F.3d ____ 2007 WL 2743502 (FCRA)
• California Capital Ins. Co. v. Farmers Ins. Group (Edmondson Property Management v. Kwock) (5th Dist. 2007) ____ Cal.App.4th ___, 2007 DJ DAR 15967 (Insurance)
• Loduca v. Polyzos (3rd Dist. 2007) 153 Cal.App.4th 334 (Contract)
• Rusheen v. Cohen (2006) 37 Cal. 4th 1048 (lawyer-litigation privilege)
• Hancock v. Receivables Management Solutions (N.D. Cal. 2006) 2006 WL 1525723 (FDCPA)
• Abels v. JBC Legal Group, Inc. (N.D. Cal. 2006) 434 F. Supp. 2d 763 (FDCPA/Rosenthal FDCPA)

• Palmer v. Stassinos (N.D. Cal. 2006) 236 F.R.D. 460 (FDCPA/Rosenthal FDCPA)
• Abels v. JBC Legal Group, Inc. (N.D. Cal. 2006) 233 F.R.D. 645 (FDCPA/Rosenthal FDCPA)

• Palmer v. Stassinos (N.D. Cal. 2006) 233 F.R.D. 546 (FDCPA)

• Trevino v. ACB American, Inc. (N.D. Cal. 2006) 232 F.R.D. 612 (FDCPA)

• Campos v. Wells Fargo Bank (E.D. Cal. 2005) 345 B.R. 678 (judgment for client bank after trial in adversary proceeding affirmed on appeal to district court)

• Camacho v. Bridgeport (9th Cir. 2005) 430 F. 3d 1070 (FDCPA)
• Johnson v. AMO Receivables Management (N.D. Cal. 2005) 2005 WL 3968292 (FDCPA)

• Palmer v. Stassinos (N.D. Cal. 2005) 348 F. Supp. 2d 1070 (FDCPA)
• Bracken v. Harris & Zide (N.D. Cal. 2004) 219 F.R.D. 481 (FDCPA)
• Beach v. Harco National Insurance Co. (2003) 110 Cal. App. 4th 82 (Commercial/Insurance)
• Renick v. Dun & Bradstreet (9th Cir. 2002) 290 F. 3d 1055 (FDCPA)
• Martin v. Wells Fargo Bank (2001) 91 Cal. App. 4th 489 (Commercial)
• Irwin v. Mascott (N.D. Cal. 2000) 112 F. Supp2d 937 (FDCPA)
• Mahon v. Credit Bureau of Placer County (9th Cir. 1999) 171 F. Supp. 3d 1197 (FDCPA)
• Naas v. Stolman (9th Cir. 1997) 130 F. 3d 892 (FDCPA)
• Plunkett v. Spaulding (1997) 52 Cal. App. 4th 114 (Medical Malpractice)
• Orix Credit Alliance v. Horton (S.D. N.Y. 1997) 965 F. Supp. 481 (Commercial)
• Newman v. Checkrite (E.D. Cal. 1995) 912 F. Supp. 1354 (FDCPA)
• Costa v. Wells Fargo Bank (Bkrtcy. E.D. Cal. 1994) 172 B.R. 954 (Commercial/Banking)
• Carlton v. Tortosa (1993) 14 Cal. App. 4th 745 (Real Estate Broker Malpractice)
• Nichols v. Keller (1993) 13 Cal. App. 4th 1672 (Legal Malpractice)
• Merenda v. Superior Court (1992) 3 Cal. App. 4th 1 (Legal Malpractice)
• U.S. Roofing v. Credit Alliance Corp. (1991) 228 Cal. App. 3d 1431 (Commercial)

Published by the California Association of Collectors in their monthly trade magazine, Collectors Ink:.

• "The Rosenthal FDCPA" (February 2006) (with June Coleman)
• "The FCRA and You" (October 2003)
• "Overview of State Debt Collection Regulations" (April 2003)
• "Alright. You've Been Sued . . . Now What Do You Do?" (December 2002)
• "Collection of Time-Barred Accounts" (August 2002)
• "Medical Collections: The Continuing Controversy of Whether California Welfare and Institutions Code, Section 17401 Prohibits Collection Agencies from Charging Interest" (June 2002)
• "Essential Components of an Employee Manual" (April 2002, with Barbara Cotter)
• "Answers to Collection Questions from Members of the American Collectors' Association" (January 2002, with Jacob Koper)

• "Promote an Open Door Policy at Work to Discourage Employment-Related Claims" (November 2001, with Barbara Cotter)
• "Is Your Attorney Meaningfully Involved In Your Collection Process?" (June 2001, reprinted in two parts in the ACA's "MAP Bulletin," September/October 2001)
• "An Update on Overshadowing" (March 2001, reprinted in the ACA's "MAP Bulletin", August 2001)

• "Practical Legal Ethics in California" (National Business Institute, February 2004)
• "California Law on Legal Malpractice" (1993, 1996 and updated 2002)
• "Practical Legal Ethics in California: Issues and Answers" (National Business Institute, February 1999)
• "10 Ways to Avoid Legal Malpractice" (Sacramento County Bar Magazine, 1994)

• “Legal Panel Discussion” California Association of Collectors 90th Annual Convention and Expo – Participate on legal panel speaking on various issues relating to current issues in FDCPA and FCRA law. (Monterey, CA October 2007)
• “Litigating to Win Through Advanced Trial Advocacy” Seminar panel presentation on, among other things, ethical considerations during trial and effective closing argument. (Sacramento, CA Oct. 2007, NBI Seminars)
• “Rules and Procedures for Federal Court Success” Seminar panel presentation with Kevin Culhane and Jeffrey Nevin (Sacramento, CA November 2007, NBI Seminars)
• "Debt Collections in California under the Federal and California (Rosenthal) Fair Debt Collection Practices Acts." Seminars to Tenet Health Care (April 26 (St. Louis) and April 27 (Dallas) 2006)
• "Essential FDCPA Training." Teleseminar to member agencies of the California Association of Collectors (February 2004)
• "Anatomy of a Lawsuit." A panel presentation with Tim Halloran, Andrew Steinheimer and Douglas Muirhead of Gulf Insurance at the California Association of Collectors 86th Annual Convention and Expo (September 2003)
• "Essential FDCPA Training." Teleseminar to member agencies of the California Association of Collectors (April 2003)
• "Malpractice and the Consumer Case; Representation of the Debtor -- Potential Malpractice Pitfalls." A Panel Presentation with John Tosney and Jack Haycock to the Northern California Consumer Bankruptcy Conference (February 2003)
• "Current Trends in California FDCPA Litigation." Presented to the California Association of Collectors Legal & Legislative Conference (March 2002)
• "Tales from the Frontline: Workshop and Legal Update." Presented to the California Association of Collectors 85th Annual Convention and Expo (October 2002)

• "Meaningful Attorney Involvement, Attorney Fee Splitting, and the Unauthorized Practice of Law." MAP teleseminar with Ronald Sargis (September 2001)

Personal

Mr. Ellis was born and raised in Fredericksburg, Virginia where he developed an interest in the Civil War that continues to this day. He is married and has two sons.