6513 Perkins Rd., Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70808

Steve

Steve M. Marks

Managing Partner

Fax 225-334-0750

Steve Marks, attorney and managing partner of Marks and Lear PLC, has been overseeing the firm’s litigation activities and day-to-day operations since 1985. He represents clients in a broad range of personal injury and wrongful death cases, including those involving auto, truck, maritime and industrial accidents as well as catastrophic injuries.

Steve began the study of law after a career in engineering, having graduated first in his class with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) and first in his class at Arizona State University, where he earned a Master’s Degree in Engineering Science with specialties in Industrial Engineering and Computer Science. He worked at Honeywell as a computer systems engineer and later at Exxon (now ExxonMobil) in Baton Rouge as a refinery engineer. Steve financed his college studies working in offshore and onshore oil exploration, including oil drilling rig floor and derrick positions, as well as relief driller.

Steve’s legal career began with the study of law at the Louisiana State University Law School. Steve was inducted into the Louisiana Law Review and received an award for his published analysis of case law. He chaired the Moot Court Board and received the highest academic honor awarded by the law school on his induction into the Order of the Coif. Steve financed his law school studies by working as a consulting engineer for Exxon. After 10 years practicing law, Steve was inducted into the Louisiana State University Law School Hall of Fame.

In the era before legal advertising, Steve started practicing law by “hanging out a shingle.” He established a vigorous trial practice, which quickly focused on the representation of the victims and families of wrongful injury or death. Since that time, Steve has successfully challenged the constitutionality of laws limiting financial recovery in Louisiana for the catastrophically injured. He was the first attorney to successfully urge a Louisiana court to accept the expert testimony and opinion of a neuropsychologist to confirm brain injury when neurologists and neurosurgeons could find no injury using traditional tests, including EEG, MRI or CAT scans. This ground-breaking decision ended the era of serious closed head injuries being compensated as routine post-concussion syndrome cases. Steve also handled the case that established the rule of law in automobile insurance policy interpretation that prevents an insurance company from enforcing a policy clause that deducts medical payment benefits from uninsured/underinsured protection. These cases and other important cases Steve has handled are discussed in our Case Results page.

In addition to his precedent-setting legal arguments and cases, Steve designed and developed case management computer system software for the firm, which greatly increases multi-attorney, support staff and investigative collaboration in case development. This highly effective technological innovation provides a significant competitive advantage for the firm.

Steve has earned the AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rating from Martindale-Hubbell® for his legal ability and ethical standards. He is a member of several local bar associations and the Texas Trial Lawyers Association, and he is a sustaining member of the American Trial Lawyers Association. He has served as a judge at Louisiana State University Law School Moot Court competitions and has been a guest lecturer for the National Association of Legal Investigators. One lecture, “A Model Investigation: Grain Silo Explosion Case,” presented investigative techniques used in the successful development of one of Steve’s cases.

Steve was born and raised near Opelousas, Louisiana, in central Louisiana.

Please see Steve’s LexisNexis® Martindale-Hubbell Private Practice Lawyer Profile for additional information.

Practice Areas

  • Maritime personal injury
  • Seamen’s claims
  • Oil rig injuries
  • Construction accidents
  • Industrial accidents
  • Toxic torts and toxic exposure
  • Brain/head injuries
  • Spinal cord/back injuries
  • Burn injuries
  • Pedestrian and bicycle accidents
  • Medical malpractice

Bar admissions

  • Louisiana, 1978
  • U.S. District Court, Middle, Eastern and Western Districts of Louisiana, 1978
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, 5th Circuit, 1978
  • U.S. Supreme Court, 1978

Honors

  • Order of the Coif
  • Louisiana Law Review, 1977–1978
  • Member, Louisiana State University Law School Hall of Fame
  • The American Trial Lawyers Top 100 Lawyers, Louisiana inception, 2011

Education

Professional associations


    Reported cases

    • Henry A. Sibley, III, Curator Of Jane Elizabeth Sibley, Interdict v. The Board of Supervisors of Louisiana State University, 477 So. 2d 1094 (La. 1985) and 490 So. 2d 307 (La. 1986)
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    • Edgar Major v. Cotton's, Inc., 536 So.2d 471 (La. 1988)
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    • City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge v. Pearl Price Tullier, Et. Al. 401 So.2d 422 (La.App. 1 Cir. 1981)
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    • Stewart v. Schmieder, 386 So.2d 1351 (La. 1980)
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    • Michael Scott Jordan v. Howard K. Sweeney, Et. Al., 467 So.2d 569 (La.App. 1 Cir. 1985)
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    • Debra J. Bolin v. Safeco Insurance Companies And State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, 431 So.2d 71 (La.App. 1 Cir. 1983)
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    • Brenda Marie Brignace Tullier v. Benjamin J. Tullier, Jr., 464 So.2d 278 (La. 1985)
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    • State of Louisiana v. H.M. Cannon, 372 So.2d 1237 (La. 1979)
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    • United States of America v. Gordon Curry, 681 F.2d 406 (5th Cir. 1982)
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    • Judy Kinchen And Leroy Kinchen v. K-Mart Corporation D/B/A K-Mart, 589 So.2d 28 (La.App. 1 Cir. 1991)

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