Mark R. McGrath

Mark is originally a native of western New York.  He now lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.  Mark attended high school outside of Rochester where he quarterbacked and later captained two undefeated state champion football teams.  He stayed close to home following high school and attended the University of Rochester, studying English and History. He graduated from the University of Rochester in 1984, graduating magna cum laude with a Bachelor’s Degree in history and a minor in English.

Mark relocated to Chapel Hill following his undergraduate studies where he entered the graduate program in History.  Mark received an Master’s Degree from UNC in 1986.  Mark entered the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1988.  While there he was named to the Dean’s List six out of six semesters, served on The North Carolina Law Review, and graduated in the top 12% of his class.  During the summers Mark clerked at large law firms in Raleigh, Richmond and New York where he developed extensive experience conducting legal research and drafting legal documents.  He graduated from law school in 1991.

Following law school, over a period of eleven years, Mark worked for three large commercial firms located in Raleigh, Charlotte and New York.  There his practice focused on the litigation of complex commercial cases and the defense of businesses and insurance companies.  He also focused his practice on defending businesses in catastrophic personal injury and wrongful death suits.  These included trucking accidents, construction site accidents, industrial accidents and other high-end injury cases.

In 2002 Mark joined the firm of Faison & Gillespie, then the largest personal injury and medical malpractice firm in the state.  After two years of hard work, Mark was made a partner with the firm.  At Faison & Gillespie Mark represented plaintiffs in catastrophic personal injury cases, medical malpractice cases and nursing home negligence cases, earning large settlements on behalf of his clients.  He also represented injured workers in third party workplace actions, clients who had been injured in electrical accidents, and clients who pursued civil actions arising from criminal incidents.  As the attorney primarily responsible for these cases, Mark saw to it that his cases stayed on schedule through discovery and motions practice.  He brought numerous cases to successful conclusion and won settlements that frequently ranked as the highest in the state during a given year.

In 2006, Mark left Faison & Gillespie to form Jensen McGrath Podgorny, a firm specializing in catastrophic personal injury litigation.  At JMP Mark was involved in winning numerous settlements that ranked among the highest in the state for that year.  In 2010 John Jensen left the law firm, but it continued as McGrath Podgorny.  McGrath Podgorny continued the tradition of handling high profile, high stakes cases, and winning large and successful resolutions on these claims.  Mark left the firm 2012 to care for a critically ill child.  since 2012, Mark has worked as a freelance attorney, representing other lawyers and conducting legal research and drafting work and providing litigation consulting services.

Mark has appeared and argued cases in courtrooms across the states of New York and North Carolina, personally handled matters before the North Carolina Industrial Commission, and has argued cases in the appellate courts of New York and North Carolina.  Over the course of his career he has interviewed hundreds of witnesses, taken scores of depositions (including numerous doctor and expert witnesses), drafted and responded to complex discovery, and conducted focus groups and mock trials to test the merits of cases to establish case value for purposes of settlement and trial.

Mark has spoken regularly before groups of lawyers regarding personal injury and wrongful death litigation issues.  Mark has been named a North Carolina Super Lawyer five times by Super Lawyer Magazine. 

Mark has written dozens of articles for legal publications relating to personal injury and wrongful death litigation.  Prior to leaving McGrath Podgorny Mark was a regular contributor to North Carolina Lawyers Weekly where he wrote a regular series, The Practical Litigator.  Two of his pieces have been cited by articles appearing in the North Carolina Law Review.  He has worked to become a highly respected litigator with a statewide reputation and an accomplished authority on personal injury and wrongful death litigation matters.  

Mark is the proud father of three boys, who are ages 21, 17 and 12.  In his free time Mark enjoys fly fishing, golf, writing and exercising.