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Mark Schaeffer

Mark Schaeffer has been a member of Nemecek & Cole since August 2024.

During his career, Mark has represented some of the country’s largest companies, real estate developers, business owners, legal professionals, individuals, and homeowner associations. His legal practice has covered a vast range of litigation services from business, real estate, professional liability, insurance, homeowner, and other civil disputes from inception through trial and appeal. Mark knows how to win the gamut of lawsuits, from complex real estate disputes, breach of contract, and legal malpractice, to anti-SLAPP litigation, from the inception of a lawsuit, and all the way to the Supreme Court. Mark’s legal prowess in over 33 years of litigation, including dozens of anti-SLAPP lawsuits, is well documented, and has resulted in large attorney fee awards for his clients. Mark has had substantial experience in litigation management. He has also had considerable experience in all forms of alternative dispute resolution, including mediation, arbitration, and settlement conferences.

Mark heads the Appellate Department at Nemecek & Cole. He has had extensive experience in appeals and writs to California and Federal Courts of Appeal and to the California and United States Supreme Courts. Mark is heavily involved in the legal community’s associations and makes regular and significant contributions to the legal profession. He is currently the co-chair of a Los Angeles County Bar Association committee which reviews Court of Appeal opinions and decides whether the committee should request that the court publish unpublished decisions or depublish opinions, then writes those requests, as well as being involved in obtaining and writing amicus briefs. Mark is also a member of the appellate courts section, which holds monthly meetings with other renowned appellate specialists at the Second District Court of Appeal, which are frequented by Justices of the Court of Appeal.

Mark is a Certified Specialist in Appellate Law by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization.

Certified Appellate Specialist, The State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization

Contact

Practice Areas

  • Professional Liability Defense
  • Appeals and Writs

Education

B.B.A., accounting and business, University of San Diego, 1983 magna cum laude
J.D., Hastings College of Law, 1986

Charitable Involvement

Mark has made significant contributions, both financially and with his time, to numerous organizations that are designed to protect and preserve endangered wildlife, including the rhinoceros, Asian tiger, elephant, and big cats of Africa.

Professional Activities

Judge Pro Tem for the Los Angeles Superior Court, Arbitrator for the Los Angeles County Bar Association, and Mediator and Arbitrator for Los Angeles Superior Court.

Admissions

State Bar of California
United States Supreme Court
Court of Federal Claims
Federal Circuit Court of Appeals

Awards

Selected as a Southern California Super Lawyer 2013-2021; American Jurisprudence Award for his work at Hastings College of Law; Scholarship Award from San Diego Chapter of California Society of Certified Public Accountants.

Personal Background

Mark plays tournament tennis and has been highly nationally and locally ranked. He enjoys traveling and has visited 107 countries. Mark spends his leisure time playing tennis, going to the gym, swimming, bicycling, meeting friends, and on his philanthropic ventures with various animal organizations. He is conversationally fluent in French.


Notable Cases/Published Decisions

  • Jacqueline B. v. Rawls (2021) 68 Cal.App.5th 243
  • Sprengel v. Zbylut (2019) 40 Cal.App.5th 1028
  • Litinsky v. Kaplan (2019) 40 Cal.App.5th 970
  • Austin v. Medicis (2018) 21 Cal.App.5th 577
  • Machavia v. County of Los Angeles (2017) 19 Cal.App.5th 1050
  • In re Steve Sedgwick (2016) 560 B.R. 786
  • Foxen v. Carpenter (2016) 6 Cal.App.5th 284
  • Younessi v. Woolf (2016) 244 Cal.App.4th 1137
  • Moua v. Pittullo, Howington, Barker, Abernathy, LLP (2014) 228 Cal.App.4th 107
  • Namikas v. Miller (2014) 225 Cal.App.4th 1574
  • Barsegian v. Kessler & Kessler (2013) 215 Cal.App.4th 446
  • Nemecek & Cole v. Horn (2012) 208 Cal.App.4th 641
  • Cole v. Meyer & Associates, Inc. (2012) 206 Cal.App.4th 1095
  • Glaser, Weil, Fink, Jacobs & Shapiro, LLP v. Goff (2011) 194 Cal.App.4th 423
  • Jocer v. Price (2010) 183 Cal.App.4th 559
  • Drum v. San Fernando Bar Ass’n (2010) 182 Cal.App.4th 247
  • Martorana v. Marlin & Saltzman (2009) 175 Cal.App.4th 685
  • Fagelbaum & Heller v. Smylie (2009) 174 Cal.App.4th 1351
  • Alshafie v. Lallande (2009) 171 Cal.App.4th 421
  • Lincoln Place Tenants Ass’n v. City of Los Angeles (2007) 155 Cal.App.4th 425
  • Marlin v. AIMCO Venezia, LLC (2007) 154 Cal.App.4th 154
  • Lazy Acres Market, Inc. v. Tseng (2007) 152 Cal.App.4th 1431
  • Ross v. Kish (2006) 145 Cal.App.4th 188
  • Mid-Century Ins. Co. v. Superior Court (2006) 138 Cal.App.4th 769
  • Sinaloa Lake Owners Ass’n v. City of Simi Valley (1995) 70 F.3d 1095
  • Sinaloa Lake Owners Ass’n, Inc. v. Stephenson (1992) 805 F.Supp. 824
  • Industrial Tectonics, Inc. v. Aero Alloy (1990) 912 F.2d 1090