Mark Russ

He worked his way through Loyola Law School during the late 2000s as a case manager at a premier California criminal defense firm, Shouse Law Group. While a student, he there progressed to actually representing clients at trials and contested hearings under Shouse Law Group supervision as authorized by the State Bar of California’s PTLS Program (“Practical Training of Law Students,” per CRC 943(d)). Based on his participation and leadership of Loyola’s competitive trial advocacy team, the faculty awarded him both of its top honors for excellence in trial advocacy at graduation.

He then joined Shouse Law Group as a trial attorney, representing criminal defendants in Los Angeles County from arraignment to verdict in misdemeanor and felony matters throughout the courts of the southland.

2018 brought a change when he accepted an offer from the Los Angeles County Public Defender, a move he undertook to expand his courtroom exposure and experience as widely as possible. As a LA County Public Defender, Mark handled hundreds matters in pretrial and trial proceedings at LA’s Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center, Metropolitan Courthouse, East Los Angeles Courthouse, West Covina Courthouse and more.

2023 brought yet another change when Mark joined the Los Angeles County Alternate Public Defender where, among others, he represented clients with felonies such as “three strikes/life” and homicide cases that also included cases of false accusation and police misconduct.

Having long known and admired the principals at MSD Lawyers, he excitedly became their Trial Counsel in 2026.