About Mark Randall
Mark Randall Arend built an unusual career path before settling into law. He earned a B.A. in psychology from the University of Washington in 1980, later took leadership training in 1995, and completed a J.D. at Seattle University School of Law in 2005. He added trial training at the National Institute of Trial Advocacy in 2009. Earlier milestones include formal military flight training and combat pilot experience in the United States Air Force during the 1980s.
Those years in uniform were followed by nearly a decade of operations and sales management. Arend held roles at StairMaster and McCaw Cellular Communications, worked in sales leadership throughout the 1990s, and served as president of The Arend Group in 1995. In the early 2000s he moved into corporate sales positions, including management roles at Verizon Call Center Services and Onvia.
The shift into law began in the mid-2000s. Arend worked as a law clerk in 2006 and 2007, then took an associate position at Nelson & Carver in 2008. He joined McKinley Irvin in 2014 and served as a lawyer there before becoming a senior lawyer in 2017 and a partner in 2020. He also has served as a commissioner pro tempore at the Pierce County Superior Court since 2014, a role that places him on the bench for certain matters and hearings.
Arend holds a mediator certification from the King County Dispute Resolution Center. He belongs to the Washington State Bar Association and the Tacoma-Pierce County Bar Association, both since 2008. He has been a member of The Honorable Robert J. Bryan American Inn of Court since 2006 and has served on its executive board. In 2024 he became a fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. He is admitted to practice in Washington and before the Federal Circuit.
His legal practice is concentrated in family and matrimonial matters. He handles dissolution cases, parenting and custody disputes, and financial issues that arise in family law. Trial advocacy training and courtroom experience inform how he approaches hearings and contested litigation. His background as a mediator also shapes how he manages negotiation and settlement discussions.
Today Arend operates out of McKinley Irvin. He continues to hear matters as a commissioner pro tempore and to participate in bar and judicial education programs. His current practice centers on matrimonial and family law matters.
