Mark was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 1983 and the Bar of Northern Ireland in 2010.
In 2009 Mark was appointed Queen’s Counsel.
Mark holds an Honors Degree in Law from Leicester Polytechnic, a Master’s Degree in Commercial Law from the London School of Economics, University of London and is a qualified arbitrator and mediator and Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.
Mark is a very experienced Barrister who practices from chambers in London (5 Paper Buildings) and Cardiff (Apex Chambers).
The focus of Mark’s practice is predominantly criminal law and he has a long established specialism in intellectual property law acting, inter alia, as a recognised trade mark counsel and as an appointed mediator with the Music Publishers Association. Mark also practices in the field of regulatory work undertaking defence work, inter alia, for Doctors and Chiropractors
Mark is an expert in serious organised crime and fraud cases (appointed as an approved Queen’s Counsel prosecutor with the Serious Fraud Office) and conducts trials for both defence and prosecution involving VAT frauds, murder, sexual offences and drug importation cases. Mark is an ‘Accredited Advocate’ for complex criminal cases (VHCC) with the Legal Services Commission.
In 2010 Mark was appointed the Chairman of the Disciplinary Appeals Committee with the accountancy professional regulatory body CIPFA (Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy). CIPFA members are predominantly specialist accountants that work with HM Treasury and the financial advisors to local government authorities.
Mark is an accredited lecturer with the American Bar Association, the Bar Council and the Law Society.
In November 2011 Mark joined Aschfords Law LLP in Harrow, Middlesex as a partner under the ‘dual capacity’ scheme operated by the Bar Council.
Mark is a Director with the specialist consultancy practice ‘Wyeth Stark Partnership’.