During the past 30 years, Mark has taken on some of the biggest challenges in the legal field. In doing so, he has achieved some of the largest verdicts in history, accomplishments that have changed business practices to protect the public and have gained justice for the victims of asbestos exposure, dangerous drugs, medical devices, and other consumer products. In addition, he has successfully represented a select number of clients in claims involving fraud, breach of contract, and other forms of business litigation.
These results cumulatively put Mark close to $20 billion in verdicts during his highly acclaimed career.
Mark’s success in the courtroom and perspectives on litigation have been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, Bloomberg News and the Houston Chronicle, among many other publications. He is also a frequent guest on news and business programs for a wide range of broadcast and cable networks.
Mark Lanier in the Media
Personal Background
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.
Community and Professional Activities
In addition to those he represents, Mark has committed himself to helping others in the law profession. He regularly appears at seminars and legal education events and serves as a featured lecturer at many of the nation’s top law schools, including Harvard Law School, Stanford Law School, Pepperdine University School of Law, University of Chicago Law School and Texas Tech University School of Law.
Executives and administrators from major American corporations and institutions often call on Mark for his respected views on national and international issues. In 2011, Mark received the distinguished Ambassador of Peace Award from the Guatemalan government for his work with Guatemala SANA, a nonprofit organization that Mark founded in 2009 to help bring health care, education and infrastructure development to rural areas of Guatemala. Mark also serves on the boards of the American Schools of Oriental Research and The Albright Institute, as well as on the Lipscomb University Board of Trustees.
Books
Representative Cases
In July 2018, Mark and his trial team secured a record-setting $4.69 billion verdict for 22 women and their families who alleged that decades of daily use of Johnson & Johnson’s asbestos-laden talcum powder products caused the women’s ovarian cancer.
- 2024 – $8 million verdict from a jury that unanimously determined that exposure to asbestos from the BNSF Railyard was a contributing factor in the deaths of our clients who tragically succumbed to mesothelioma. This verdict represents the first successful community exposure case against BNSF Railway in relation to asbestos-related illnesses.
- 2021 – 2022 – Led the national trial team that secured a historic $650.6 million jury verdict against retail pharmacies operated by Walmart, CVS, and Walgreens. The jury affirmed that the pharmacies had failed to follow guidelines that would have curtailed the staggering distribution of highly addictive opioid painkillers. This was followed by another historic $1.85 billion settlement reached, in Texas, with opioid manufacturers and distributors and was preceded by a $260 million settlement with opioid distributors AmeriSource Bergen Corp., Cardinal Health Inc., McKesson Corp. and Teva on behalf of two other Ohio counties on similar claims.
- 2018 – A record setting $4.69 billion verdict on behalf of 22 women and their families who alleged that decades of daily use of Johnson & Johnson’s asbestos-laden talcum powder products caused their ovarian cancer. This verdict was named National Law Journal’s Top Verdict of 2018. Johnson & Johnson took the verdict to the United States Supreme Court. On June 1st, 2021 the court rejected the J&J appeal in a brief written order, effectively ending the case and leaving in place a Missouri appeals-court ruling against the company.
- 2017 – $247 million verdict against DePuy Orthopaedics Inc. and health care giant Johnson & Johnson.
- 2016 – $528 million verdict against DePuy Orthopaedics Inc. and health care giant Johnson & Johnson, recognized by the National Law Journal as the Outstanding Medical Device Award for 2016, and as one of the Top 50 Verdicts of the Year.
- 2016 – $1.05 billion verdict against DePuy Orthopaedics Inc. and health care giant Johnson & Johnson, the fourth largest verdict in America in 2016.
- 2014 – $9 billion-dollar Actos verdict against Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. and Eli Lilly & Co.
- 2005 – $253 million in the first Vioxx® verdict in the U.S. (Ernst v. Merck).
- 2000 – Reversal of $1.6 billion judgment (Owens-Illinois v. T&N, Ltd. and Federal Mogul).
- 1998 – $118 million in an asbestos-related matter (Aaron v. Carborundum).
- 1993 – $417 million in a business fraud case against Amoco (Rubicon v. Amoco).