About Mark Stephen
Mark Stephen Stapleton combined legal training with public health study early in his career. He earned a B.A. in psychology from the University of Tennessee–Knoxville in 1985, followed by a J.D. from Cumberland School of Law at Samford University in 1989. He completed a Master of Public Health in health law at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 1989 and added an LL.M. in Health Law from DePaul College of Law in 1990. That sequence of degrees shaped an approach that blends courtroom work and an understanding of health regulation.
He is a Board Certified Civil Trial Specialist under the Tennessee Commission on Continuing Legal Education and Specialization. Trial work has been a through line in his professional life. He holds memberships in several trial advocacy organizations, including the American Board of Trial Advocates, the National Board of Trial Advocacy, and the National College of Advocacy, where he is listed as an Advocate. Those affiliations reflect an emphasis on trial skills and courtroom procedure.
Stapleton has taken on leadership roles in bar groups and professional organizations for decades. He served on the Board of Directors of the American Association for Justice Young Lawyers Division from 1993 to 1998, and he was a member of the Tennessee Association for Justice Board of Governors in the early 1990s. He has been active in the Hawkins County Bar Association since 1999 and has served as its president since 2007. Records also list him as president of the American Board of Trial Advocates beginning in 2002. He maintains long-standing ties to the Tennessee Bar Association and the Tennessee Association for Justice.
His background in health law and public health informs the way he handles civil cases that intersect with medical and regulatory issues. He has experience in complex litigation and courtroom advocacy, and he is credentialed to try civil matters in Tennessee. Clients and peers know him for methodical trial preparation and an attention to procedural detail. He approaches cases by sorting the legal issues from the factual ones, then preparing the case for trial or settlement depending on what the situation requires.
Stapleton practices from the Stapleton Law Office. He continues to take cases that require civil trial experience and an understanding of health-law questions. His current work centers on civil litigation and trial representation in state matters.
