Mark W. Bennett

Partner

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Mark Bennett grew up in India, Thailand, and Germany, and adopted Houston as home when he started at Rice University (he was 16).

Never a prosecutor. Mark Bennett has been a criminal-defense lawyer since leaving law school in 1995. Mark is one of the few criminal-defense lawyers equally at home arguing the facts to a jury, and arguing fine points of law to the highest appellate courts. He has won major victories for clients in the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (Texas's high court for criminal cases), the Texas Supreme Court (Texas's high court for civil cases) and the Georgia Supreme Court (Georgia's high court) as well as numerous lower appellate and trial courts.

Mark is passionate about always becoming a better lawyer. In 1999 he attended the prestigious 5-week Trial Lawyers College in Dubois, Wyoming. He has studied psychodrama, improvisational theater, and hypnosis, all to make him more persuasive. Mark is one of 800 Texas criminal-defense lawyers board certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in Criminal Law.

Mark also loves to help other lawyers become better. He is a leader of the criminal-defense bar, formerly serving as President (and twice as Vice President) of the Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association, where he headed the Lawyers Assistance Strike Force (protecting lawyers from judges) and the Donald Davis Seminar (teaching lawyers to deal better with the stresses of practicing criminal-defense law).

Mark has taught at numerous continuing-legal-education programs nationwide, and written papers for criminal-defense lawyers as well as to educate the general public about the legal system.

Within trial law, Mark's particular interest of study is jury selection. He believes that cases are often won or lost in the first 29 seconds before the jury. Within appellate law, Mark's favorite topic is free-speech law.

Away from the courthouse, Mark plays on stage in an improv troupe, and in the shop as a mechanic who for a hobby takes things apart, makes them better, and puts them back together.

Mark and Jennifer met in law school in 1992. They have two brilliant children, three dogs of various degrees of brilliance, and two chickens.

Practice Areas:

• Criminal Defense
• Federal Crimes
• Trials and Appeals

Bar Admissions:

• Supreme Court of Texas 1992
• Supreme Court of Colorado 1992
• Southern District of Texas 1996
• Western District of Texas 2008
• Eastern District of Texas 2002
• Northern District of Texas 2002
• Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals 1995
• Supreme Court of the United States 2002

Education:

• Law School: University of Houston (1995)
• College/University: Rice University, Houston, Texas (1992)
• Post-Law School: Trial Lawyers College, Dubois, Wyoming (1999)
  

Honors and Awards:

• Board Certified, Criminal Law, Texas Board of Legal Specialization
• Super Lawyers, 2012 - 2023
• Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association Lawyer of the Year
• Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association Charles D. Butts Award, 2015
• 10.0 Avvo Rating
• Lead Counsel Verified, 2018 - Present
• Elite Lawyer, 2023

Memberships:

Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association, VP

Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association, President

Relevant Past Employment Positions:

• Bennett & Bennett, 1995 - Present

Languages:

• English, Spanish

Courses Taught:

• Voir Dire: The First Twenty-Nine Seconds, Houston, Texas, August 2018. Introducing lawyers to psychological research into persuasion, charisma, power, and presence.
• Voir Dire Part I: New Map, New Strategy, New Weapons; Houston, Texas, August 2017. Introducing lawyers to psychological research into persuasion and charisma.
• Voir Dire: New Map, New Strategy, New Weapons; Montgomery County Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, Conroe, Texas, July 2017. Introducing lawyers to psychological research into persuasion and charisma.
• Ethics, Texas Southern University, Houston, Texas, April 2017. Ethics training for law students in TSU's clinical program.
• Once Upon a Time, Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, Lubbock, Texas, January 2017. Introducing lawyers to psychological research into persuasion and charisma.
• Improv and Voir Dire, Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, Dallas, Texas, September 2016. Introducing lawyers to improvisational theatre and its applications to persuasion.
• 18 Simple Rules (For Better Jury Selection), Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, August 2016. Jury-selection training for lawyers.
• Bennett's Grand Unified Theory of the Criminal Jury Trial, Houston, Texas, August 2016. Introducing lawyers to psychological research into decision-making.
• Revenge Porn Criminalization: The First Amendment's New Thermopylae, First Amendment Lawyers Association, Austin, Texas, February 2016. Discussing trends in speech criminalization.
• Voir Dire and Jury Instructions, Public Defender Retreat, Las Vegas, Nevada, April 2015. Teaching jury persuasion to public defenders.
• Constitutional Challenges to Sex-Crime Statutes: What, Why, and How? Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, Austin, Texas, December 2014. Teaching lawyers to recognize constitutional flaws in penal statutes.
• When the Best Defense is a Good Offense: Constitutional Challenges and Pretrial Writs for Trial Lawyers, Harris County Public Defender's Office, Houston, Texas, November 2014. Teaching lawyers to recognize and exploit constitutional flaws in penal statutes.
• Voir Dire, Ohio Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Columbus, Ohio, October 2014. Teaching jury selection to criminal-defense lawyers.
• Donald Davis Seminar: Dealing With the Practice (course director), Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association, Houston, Texas, 2014–17. Teaching lawyers how to better deal with the psychological stresses of criminal-defense practice.
• Bad Statutes / Good Law / Actual Innocence, Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, Austin, Texas, August 2014. Teaching lawyers to recognize constitutional flaws in statutes.
• Internet Crime and Free Speech in Texas, Montgomery County Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, Conroe, Texas, January 2014. Introducing criminal-defense lawyers to free-speech law.
• Voir Dire, Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association, Houston, Texas, May 2013. Teaching psychology-based jury-selection techniques.
• Voir Dire, Harris County Public Defender's Office, Houston, Texas August 2012. Teaching psychology-based jury-selection techniques.
• Ethics, Texas Southern University, Houston, Texas, August 2012. Teaching ethics to law students in TSU's clinical program.
• Voir Dire, State Bar of Texas Advanced Criminal Law Course, San Antonio, Texas, July 2012. Teaching psychology-based jury-selection techniques.
• Ethics, Texas Southern University, Houston, Texas, January 2012. Teaching ethics to law students in TSU's clinical program.
• The Importance of Jury Service, Westside High School, Houston, Texas, October 2011. Talking to high-school students about the civic importance of serving on juries.
• Social Media for Real Lawyers: Ethics and Effectiveness in the Online World, Houston, Texas, June 2010. Discussing issues for lawyers with online presences.
• Free Will and Crime: Deterministic Lawyering, Plano, Texas, July 2008. Discussing psychological and neurological research into decision-making.
• The Ethics of Contempt, Richmond, Texas, September, 2008. Ethics for criminal-defense lawyers.