Current Employment Position(s)

; Business Litigation

Year Joined Organization: 1987

Lawyer Overview

Mark is a shareholder and a former member of the board of directors in the firm of Briggs and Morgan, Professional Association. He is based in our Minneapolis office and is a member of the Business Litigation Section. Mark practices principally in the areas of:

• Telecommunications law
• Transportation law
• Business litigation

Mark is head of the firm's Telecommunications and Transportation Practice groups. He represents a variety of telecommunications carriers in the region on numerous telecommunications issues, including certificates of authority, regulatory compliance, interconnection negotiations and arbitrations, cable television and transactional matters. Representing competitive local exchange carriers, interexchange carriers and commercial mobile radio services providers, he regularly appears before the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (MPUC) and in state and federal courts on telecommunications matters. He has also appeared before numerous state regulatory agencies, including Alaska, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming. He has been involved in several landmark cases at the MPUC relating to the compulsory arbitration and approval of both landline and wireless interconnection agreements and eligible telecommunications carrier designations under the Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996.

Mark is also active in various administrative rulemaking proceedings before the MPUC and other states. He has assisted clients by monitoring and analyzing proposed and final agency actions concerning such matters as CLEC regulations, universal service fund matters and public rights-of-way. He has also represented clients in agency investigations and adjudicatory matters, including hearings before administrative law judges and presiding officers, as well as appeals from agency decisions.

In the transportation law area, Mark has acted as counsel for both shippers and carriers, including motor carriers, property brokers, freight forwarders and household goods carriers. His expertise includes DOT regulatory compliance, personal injury and property damage claims, drug and alcohol testing, and contracts. He has drafted, negotiated, administered and enforced hundreds of transportation contracts between shippers and carriers. He has also represented dozens of parties in the prosecution or defense of freight loss and damage claims, and counseled shippers in the defense of freight undercharge claims.

Mark formerly served as general counsel for a national diversified transportation and warehousing business with responsibility for labor, regulatory compliance, litigation management, real estate, and mergers and acquisitions. He has firsthand business experience in the motor freight transportation and public warehousing industries.

Mark is a member of the Ramsey County Bar Association, as well as the Transportation Lawyers Association. He is the former chair of the Minnesota State Bar Association Communications Law Section. He also serves on the Minnesota State Bar Association's Public Utilities Committee and serves as pro bono legal counsel to the Minnesota Wireless Foundation. Mark is admitted to practice in all Minnesota state and federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court.

Mark has been named a "Super Lawyer" by Minnesota Law & Politics. He has received a Preeminent rating by a leading directory of the legal profession, which reflects upon his expertise, the nature of his practice and other professional qualifications, as well as his adherence to professional standards of conduct and ethics, reliability, and diligence, among other criteria.

Born in Wabasha, Minnesota, Mark received his B.A. summa cum laude from St. Mary's University of Minnesota and his law degree cum laude from the University of Minnesota Law School. He joined Briggs in 1987.

Areas of Practice

• Telecommunications
• Transportation
• Business Litigation
• Administrative & Regulatory

West Practice Categories

Administrative Hearings & Adjudication, Administrative Investigations, Administrative Law, Administrative Officers & Agents, Administrative Rulemaking, Aviation, Business & Commercial Law, Business Organizations, Cable (Broadband), Cellular Communications, Class Actions, Communications & Media Law, Complex Litigation, Contracts, Digital Communications, FCC, Federal Appellate Practice, Federal Claims Court, Federal Trial Practice, Limited Liability Companies, Litigation & Appeals, Mass Transit, Non-profit & Tax-exempt Organizations, Patent Litigation, Railroad, Regulatory Enforcement, Shipping, State Appellate Practice, State Trial Practice, Telecommunications, Transportation Law, Trucking, US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, Wireless Communications

Bar Admissions

• Minnesota, 1985

Professional Associations and Memberships

• American Bar Association
• Member
• Minnesota State Bar Associations
• Member, Committee on Public Utilities
• Minnesota State Bar Association
• Former Chair, Communications Law Section
• Ramsey County Bar Association
• Member
• Association of Transportation Law, Logistics and Policy
• Member
• Transportation Lawyers Association
• Member
• Minnesota Wireless Foundation
• Pro Bono Legal Counsel

Honors and Awards

Education

• University of Minnesota Law School, 1985
  J.D.
  Honors: Cum Laude
• St. Mary's College, 1982
  B.A.
  Honors: Summa Cum Laude

Published Works

• ALERT - New Universal Service Fund Rules to Soon Take Effect, 2007

Address

2200 IDS Center
80 South 8th Street
Minneapolis, MN 55402

Phones

612.977.8240 (Business Phone)

Faxes

612.977.8650 (Business Fax)

Emails

Contact Us (Business Email)

Websites

http://www.briggs.com/