Mark has practiced law in Seattle since 1987, initially in the litigation and construction law departments of Ferguson & Burdell, and since 1990 as a sole practitioner lawyer or in partnership. He obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree the University of Washington, and his Juris Doctor degree from the Northwestern College of Law, Lewis & Clark College, in Portland, Oregon. In addition to two decades of experience, Mr. Weiss has taken substantial additional training in mediation, collaborative law, and law.

Mr. Weiss focuses his practice on collaborative divorce and family law, mediation, arbitration, and consultation.

• 2005 Attorney of the Year award, Washington State Bar Association Family Law Section (Ken Weber Attorney of the Year)
• "Super Lawyer," Washington Law & Politics magazine, 2007-2008
• Fellow, American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers*

Alternative Dispute Resolution Activities and Training

• Arbitrator with the King County Superior Court mandatory arbitration program (1992-2008)
• Collaborative Law Trainings (multiple)
• Collaborative Law Interdisciplinary Team Training
• Multiple Local and National Mediation Trainings (including trainings with Harvard Negotiation Insight Initiative and Kenneth Cloke)
• Collaborative Law Trainer
• Board Member, King County Collaborative Law
• Founding Member, Mediators Beyond Borders

Articles (selected)

• "Collaborative Law: Questions and Answers," Bar Bulletin (May 2008)
• "Family Law Court Records," Ch. 25, Wash. St. Bar Assn. Family Law Deskbook (2006)
• "Community Property Interests in Separate Property Businesses," 40 Gonzaga L. Rev. 205 (2005)
• "Lawrence and Nunn Reject the 'Friendly Parent' Concept," Domestic Violence Report, vol. 6, no. 6, p. 81, August/September 2001 (co-authored with Dore , M.K.)
• "Washington Rejects 'Friendly Parent' Presumption in Child Custody Cases," Wash. St. Bar News p. 32 (August 2001) (co-authored with Dore , M.K.)
• "The New 'Access to Family Law Court Records Court Rule," Wash. St. Bar News p. 31 (December 2001)
• "When a Divorced Parent Wants to Move: The Littlefield Controversy," King County Bar Bulletin (August 1998)
• “Post-Trial Procedures,” Wash. Lawyers Practice Manual (1991)
• “Hazardous Waste and Real Property Transactions,” Wash. St. Bar News p. 11 (October 1986) (co-author)
• Washington Practice: Family and Community Property Law (West Publishing) (contributor)

Elected Offices

• 1997 and 2000:  Washington State Bar Association Family Law Section Executive Committee. 
• 2003:    Chairperson,  Washington State Bar Association Family Law Section.
• 2005:    Secretary/Trustee, King County Bar Association.
• 2006-08:    Trustee, King County Bar Association.
• 2007:    Director, King County Collaborative Law
• 2008:    Secretary, King County Collaborative Law

 Appointments

• 1996:  Washington State Bar Association Mandatory Alternative Dispute Resolution Rule Task Force.
• 1998:   Contributing editor to the WSBA Family Law Deskbook.
• 1999:   Member, WSBA Amicus Brief Committee for two years. Reappointed for another one-year term in 2003.
• 2000:  Washington Supreme Court Chief Justice Richard Guy appointed Mr. Weiss to serve on an ad hoc committee to solve issues relating to privacy of litigants in family law cases, which led to the adoption of General Rule 22, "Access to Family Law Records."
• 2001:  Mr. Weiss participated on a court committee concerning "portability" of judges between court levels. He also became a member of the Committee for Cost-Effective Justice, which spearheaded the adoption by the voters of a Constitutional amendment to make more efficient use of judges.
• 2002:   Appointed by the Washington Courts to an ad hoc committee to help formulate an electronic filing court rule. The rule drafted by the committee was adopted by the Supreme Court as General Rule 30.
• 2002:  Representative of the King County Bar Association to the King County Superior Court's Electronic Court Records Executive Sponsor Committee.
• 2003:  King County Superior Court workgroup to draft the King County Local Family Law Rules. 
• 2003:  Supreme Court Justice Bobbe Bridge appointed Mr. Weiss to a workgroup to make recommendations for revisions to court rules GR 15 and 22 to help balance privacy interests in court procedures and file access. 
• 2005:  Chaired a subcommittee of the Judiciary and the Courts Committee of the King County Bar Association to draft pattern family law interrogatories.
• 2005:  Contributing editor and chapter author for WSBA Family Law Deskbook.
• 2006:  Chaired Legislative Task Force, King County Bar Association.
• 2007:  Chaired ad hoc bar committee for review of King County Local Family Law Rules, King County Superior Court.
• 2007:  Member, Unified Family Court Workgroup, Washington Commission on Children in Foster Care.
• Mr. Weiss is a former chairperson of the King County Bar Association Family Law Section Local Rules Committee. He has also been active in the Legislation Committee of the KCBA Family Law Section. For the past several years, he has also been a mentor for new attorneys through the KCBA Mentor program.

Professional Memberships

King County Bar Association
Washington State Bar Association
Washington State Bar Association Family Law Section
American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers
International Academy of Collaborative Professionals
King County Collaborative Law

Presentations

1993:

• "Drafting Family Law Documents" (King County Bar Association) (co-chair and speaker)
• "Military Dissolution Issues" (King County Bar Association) (co-chair)

1995:

• "Domestic Relations Drafting Gems" (Washington State Bar Association) (panelist)
• "Personal Reputations, Choses in Action, Security Interests, and Other Unusual Property Issues," Nuts & Bolts of Money in Dissolution (King County Bar Association) (Chair and speaker)
• "Preserving the Goose that Lays the Golden Egg: Divorcing Owners without Breaking the Business," Family Law Institute (King County Bar Association)

1996:

• Family Law Skills Institute (Washington State Bar Association) (instructor)
• "An Introduction to Family Law" (King County Public Defenders Association)

1997:

• Family Law Skills Institute (Washington State Bar Association) (instructor)

1998:

• "An Introduction to Parenting Plans," Family Law Skills Institute, (Washington State Bar Association) (speaker and instructor)
• "An Introduction to Parenting Plans," Best of CLE program, (Washington State Bar Association)

1999:

• Family Law Skills Institute, (Washington State Bar Association) (instructor)
• "Litigation Techniques Involving Confidential Records" (Washington Law Institute) (panelist)
• "Real Property Law", Family Law Section Annual Meeting, (Washington State Bar Association)
• "Enforcing and Collecting Child Support Obligations" (Washington State Bar Association) (chair)

2000:

• Family Law Skills Institute (Washington State Bar Association) (instructor)
• "Litigation Techniques Involving Confidential Records" (Washington Law Institute) (panelist)

2001:

• "Privacy in the New Millennium" (Government Lawyers Bar Association).

2002:

• "Financial Records and Privacy," Family Law Skills Institute (Washington State Bar Association)
• "Privacy - GR 22," Family Law Section Annual Meeting & Seminar (Washington State Bar Association)

2004:

• "Community Interests in Separate Property Businesses" (Family Law Council of Community Property States, Madison, Wisconsin) (co-presenter).
• "Considerations in Awarding Closely Held Businesses in the Context of Divorce in the State of Washington," Family Law Section Annual Meeting & Seminar (Washington State Bar Association) (co-presenter)
• "Privacy and GR 31," King County Bench-Bar Conference (King County Bar Association) (presenter and panelist)
• "GR 31: The Impacts of the New Court Records Rule" (panelist) (Bench-Bar-Press Committee of Washington)
• "In the Children's Best Interests" (King County Bar Association) (co-chair)

2005:

• "Community and Separate Property Characterization Issues," Formidable Factors: The Financial Aspects of Divorce (co-presenter) (Washington State Bar Association)
• "GR 15, 22, and 31 Privacy Issues," Formidable Factors: The Financial Aspects of Divorce (Washington State Bar Association)
• "Changes in Court Rules Impacting the Family Law Practitioner," Family Law Section Annual Meeting (Washington State Bar Association)
• "Speed Topics: Special Interest Issues within Estate Planning and Family Law," (moderator), When Death and Divorce Collide: Cross-Over Issues in Estate Planning and Family Law (Washington State Bar Association)

2006:

• "Amendments to General Rules Affecting Family Law Practice," Family Law Section Annual Meeting & Seminar  (Washington State Bar Association)
• "Speed Topics: Special Interest Issues within Estate Planning and Family Law," (moderator), When Death and Divorce Collide: Cross-Over Issues in Estate Planning and Family Law (Washington State Bar Association)

2007:

• "Family Law, a Boutique Practice," (chair) (AAML)
• "Recent Amendments to GR 22," AAML annual seminar (AAML)
• Co-Trainer, Basic Collaborative Law Training (ethics)
• Alternative Dispute Resolution in Family Law (chair) (Washington State Bar Association)

2008:

• "Ethics and Collaborative Law" (co-presenter) (King County Bar Association)
• Co-trainer, Basic Collaborative Law Training (ethics)
• "The Collaborative Team Approach in Handing Parenting Plan Disputes" (AAML)

* The Supreme Court of Washington does not recognize certification of specialties in the practice of law and the certificate, award, or recognition listed is not a requirement to practice law in the state of Washington.