Mark Lassiter

I am an AV Rated California, Arizona, and Colorado attorney with over 37 years’ experience in business, real estate, construction, and technology disputes and an AAA commercial arbitrator since 1992.

Experience

I am a Fellow in the College of Commercial Arbitrators, and have been a commercial arbitrator since 1991. I serve on the arbitration panels of the American Arbitration Association (the “AAA”), the International Centre for Dispute Resolution (“ICDR”) and the National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals (“NADN”). I serve on the AAA’s Commercial, Construction Industry, Large and Complex Case and Emergency Relief Panels. I am also a mediator on the AAA’s mediation panel and was a Founding Arizona Mediator/Arbitrator with the NADN. I am an AV Rated Lawyer in the Martindale Hubbell Legal Directory, have been a Southwest Super Lawyer® in the area of Alternative Dispute Resolution (“ADR”), am a sustaining member of ARIZONA’S FINEST LAWYERS, and am among Arizona’s Top-Rated Lawyers from 2014 - Present in the areas of ADR, Business and Commercial law in LEGAL LEADERS.

Work History

Attorney/Arbitrator/Mediator/Neutral, Mark E. Lassiter, P.C. d/b/a “The Lassiter Law Firm,” 11/15/2017 - Present; Attorney, Of Counsel, Carpenter, Hazlewood, Delgado & Bolen, LLP, 8/1/2016 - 11/15/2017; Attorney/Founder, Mark E. Lassiter, P.C. d/b/a “The Lassiter Law Firm,” 7/1/2012 - 7/31/2016; Partner, Management Committee Member, Department Head: Commercial Litigation and Dispute Resolution Section, Davis Miles McGuire Gardner, PLLC 2009-2012; Founder and ‘Managing Member’ – THE LASSITER LAW FIRM, P.L.C. (and predecessor law firms), 1998-2009; Attorney, Roberts & Rowley, 1995-97; Special Counsel/Vice President of Special Projects, inVzn (Software) Development Corporation, 1994-95; Attorney, Ivanjack & Lambirth, 1992-94; Attorney, Kerry, Garcia & Lewis, 1991-92; Attorney, Mark Lassiter & Associates, 1987-91; Attorney, Spierer, Woodward, et al, 1984-87; In-house Counsel, Ryan-McFarland (Software) Corporation, 1983-84.

Cases

I have over 37 years of experience as a civil trial attorney and commercial arbitrator specializing in business, technology, real estate and construction litigation and dispute resolution. I have handled a wide variety of matters, including business litigation, disputes and arbitrations arising from: commercial breach of contract claims; construction contract claims; technology and software licensing agreements; securities law violations; employment compensation and covenant not to compete disputes; breach of fiduciary duty, misappropriation of trade secrets, unfair competition and other business torts; business buy-sell and sale of business disputes; dissolutions of corporations, partnerships, and limited liability companies (“LLCs”); “business divorce” disputes among partners, shareholders, members and other business principals; business insurance coverage disputes; church and not-for-profit organization matters, including matters involving alleged pastoral staff sexual abuse and impropriety; real estate and construction disputes arising from private commercial, industrial, retail and residential construction projects; disputes arising from real estate purchase and sale contracts, commercial real estate leases, IRC §1031 tax deferred exchanges, escrows, and the co-ownership of real property. I have considerable experience in provisional remedies and emergency relief (e.g., injunctions, receiverships, and pre-judgment asset seizures), in computer technology and/or software disputes and in electronic evidence discovery of Electronically Stored Information (“EED/ESI”) matters. I have been appointed by the Maricopa County (Phoenix) Superior Court as a receiver (in 2005) to take over the affairs of a law firm embroiled in a dispute amongst its partners and as a special master in e-Discovery and company dissolution matters. I was the principal trial lawyer in a commercial real estate fraud case resulting in seven figure jury verdict that was one of the Top 10 Arizona Civil Jury Trial Verdicts in 2017, as reported in ARIZONA ATTORNEY magazine (#10).

Training

I have extensive and advanced level arbitrator training, a partial listing of which includes the following AAA Arbitrator Continuing Education (“ACE”) and other ADR training that I have attended : Arbitration Update; Ethics: What Do Arbitrators Owe the Process?; Protocols for [Arbitration] Construction Site Visits; Back to the Beginning I: The Federal Rules Discovery Amendments; Back to the Beginning II: Simplifying the [Arbitration] Process; The Advocate and the Arbitrator – What Do They Want?, 10/16 College of Commercial Arbitrators 16th Annual Meeting, Orlando; Arbitration Law: Key Developments of 2015; Returning Arbitration to its Alternative Roots; and Red Flags and Risk Areas for Arbitrators: A Review of Recent Cases Challenging Arbitrator Authority, 2/16 AAA/ICDR Arbitrator Conference, New Orleans; Chairing an Arbitration Panel: Managing Procedures, Process & Dynamics (ACE005), Self-study, 12/15; Principled Deliberations ~ Decision-Making Skills for Arbitrators (ACE008), Self-study, 12/15; AAA Neutrals’ Roundtable: Motions and Award Modification, Phoenix, 7/15; State Bar of Arizona ADR Section CLE on Recent Cases Which Govern Drafting An Enforceable Arbitration Clause, Phoenix, Arizona 5/14; State Bar of Arizona ADR Section CLE on AAA ARBITRATION RULES UPDATE, Phoenix, Arizona 2/14; Managing the Arbitration Process for Efficiency & Economy Following the Preliminary Hearing (ACE007), Los Angeles, 8/13; Maximizing Efficiency & Economy in Arbitration: Challenges at the Preliminary Hearing (ACE006), Los Angeles, 8/13; State Bar of Arizona ADR Section CLE on WHAT’S NEW IN ADR? – CURRENT ISSUES & CASE LAW UPDATE, Phoenix, Arizona 10/12; AAA Webinar, Arbitrator Boundaries: What are the Limits of Arbitrator Authority?, 2011; Faculty, AAA Dealing with Delay Tactics in Arbitration (ACE004), 2010, 2005; Expectations of Parties: Best Practices In Construction Arbitration, San Diego, 2/09; Arbitrator Update: Topical Issues and Case Law in Arbitration, San Diego, 2/09; Large, Complex Construction Mediation: The Dynamics of the Negotiation Team, San Diego, 2/09; Managing Cases with Self-Represented Parties (ACE002), Miami, 3/06; Motions to Vacate: What They Tell Us About Arbitration Awards, Miami, 3/06; Discovery & Evidence in Arbitration, Miami, 3/06; Impasse Strategies for Complex Mediation, Miami, 3/06; AAA’s Basic (i.e., “40 Hour”) Mediation Training, Phoenix, 10/05; Peacemaker Ministries’ Certification (Arbitration) Practicum and its Reconciler (Conflict Coaching) Training Program, Dallas, 9/05; AAA’s Arbitrator Update 2005, Palm Springs, 3/05; AAA’s Innovations in Presenting Evidence in Construction Arbitration, Palm Springs, 3/05; AAA’s Best Practices for Arbitrating Large and Complex Cases, Palm Springs, 3/05; AAA’s Topical Issues in Construction Arbitration, Palm Springs, 3/05; AAA’s Arbitrator Update 2004, San Antonio, 3/04; ACE003 - Arbitrator Ethics and Disclosure, San Antonio, 3/04; AAA’s– Arbitration Awards: Safeguarding, Deciding & Writing Awards (ACE001), Scottsdale, 1/03; AAA’s Arbitrator Update 2003, Scottsdale, 1/03; AAA’s Practical Aspects of Mediating Multi-Party Disputes, Scottsdale, 1/03; AAA’s Working with the AAA’s Case Management Center Staff, Scottsdale, 1/03; Peacemaker Ministries’ Reconciler (Mediation) Training Program, Scottsdale, 10/02; AAA’s Commercial/Construction Arbitrator II Training on Advanced Case Management Issues, Phoenix, 11/01; AAA’s e-Commerce Group Supplementary Training for Online Procedures, Los Angeles, 7/01; AAA’s Effective Construction Conflict Management Member Training, Phoenix, 3/00; AAA’s Commercial Arbitrator Training, Orlando, 10/98; AAA Construction Arbitrator Training, Orlando, 10/98; State Bar of Arizona, Becoming a Skillful Arbitrator, Phoenix, 12/96; Pepperdine Institute for Dispute Resolution/California Continuing Education of the Bar, Resolving Commercial Disputes Without Trial, Los Angeles, 9/92; AAA Basic and Advanced Arbitrator Training, Los Angeles, 4/92; California Continuing Education of the Bar, Contractual Arbitration, Los Angeles, 3/92; AAA Hearing Chair Training, Los Angeles, 3/92.

License(s)

State Bars of California, Arizona and Colorado

Education

1980 B.A. University of California at Los Angeles (\"UCLA\") 1983 J.D. Loyola Law School, Los Angeles 2010-2012 Graduate Studies towards MA in Project Management at Northern Arizona University (with focus on Legal Project Management)

Publications

1. Author, Arizona Chapter in INTERIM MEASURES IN THE UNITED STATES IN AID OF ARBITRATION, Juris Publishing (2021) 2. Annotated Specimen Form of Alternative Dispute Resolution Clause with Commentary for Arbitration Agreements subject to Arizona’s RUAA, ARIZONA ADR FORUM [Newsletter of the ADR Section of the State Bar of Arizona], Winter 2013 3. Drafting ADR Clauses in Business Agreements Under Arizona’s Revised Uniform Arbitration Act (or “How Not to be the Pariah of the Litigation Lawyers in Your Firm”), ARIZONA ADR FORUM, Winter 2013 4. Summary of Arizona State Cases on Private Arbitration under Arizona’s Arbitration Act (State Bar of Arizona CLE Materials for Annual Private Arbitration Update) (1999‐2020) 5. Arizona’s New Revised Uniform Arbitration Act, ARIZONA ATTORNEY Magazine, (Nov. 2010) 6. Drafting ADR Clauses in Arizona after the RUAA, State Bar of Arizona CLE Program Materials, (2011) 7. ARBITRATOR JURISDICTION: WHO DECIDES WHO DECIDES WHAT’S ARBITRABLE? A Primer on Jurisdiction in Private Arbitration Matters, State Bar of Arizona CLE Program Materials, (2009‐2016) 8. Annotated Specimen Form of Alternative Dispute Resolution Clause with Commentary, State Bar of Arizona CLE Program Materials, (2008‐2010) 9. Arbitration Boot Camp, State Bar of Arizona CLE Program Materials (1999‐2020) 10. Arbitration 101 – What Every Advocate Should Know, (CLE Program Materials for AAA’s First On‐Line, On‐Demand Internet CLE Video Training Program (~ 2003)

Awards

Fellow in the College of Commercial Arbitrators (the \"CCA\"). AV Rated Lawyer in the Martindale Hubbell Legal Directory. Southwest Super Lawyer® in the area of Alternative Dispute Resolution (“ADR”), a sustaining member of ARIZONA’S FINEST LAWYERS, and am among Arizona’s Top-Rated Lawyers from 2014 - Present in the areas of ADR, Business and Commercial law in LEGAL LEADERS.

Panels

I serve on the arbitration panels of the American Arbitration Association (the “AAA”), the International Centre for Dispute Resolution (“ICDR”) and the National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals (“NADN”). I serve on the AAA’s Commercial, Construction Industry, Large and Complex Case and Emergency Relief Panels.