Mark J. Leonardo, originally a native from Detroit, Michigan, came to California to attend Pepperdine University School of Law in Malibu in 1982, and has been a Californian ever since. Mark graduated from Pepperdine in 1985 and also spent a semester at Imperial College in London through the Pepperdine overseas program. He is dedicated to helping injured clients restore their lives.
Mark has had approximately 60 bench and jury trials, and binding arbitrations with verdicts in the six, seven and eight figures, handling numerous cases for personal injury, real estate and foreclosure litigation, with significant emphasis in business litigation (breach of contract, fraud, collections, and trade secret litigation), and employment litigation (including claims before the Labor Commissioner) regarding harassment, discrimination, retaliation and wrongful termination for both plaintiffs and defendants, and wage and hour claims, including class actions. Mark was also approved to be on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission as a referral lawyer for employees wanting to sue their employer for discrimination, harassment and/or retaliation. Mark also has significant appellate experience handling over 60 appeals and writs, including a published decision. With his 40+ year history, Mark possesses the necessary experience and expertise to navigate the complexities of the personal injury cases handled at Dordick Law Corporation.
In January 2023, Mark, along with Christopher Bulone, set a record in Contra Costa County with a jury verdict of $5,143,141 ($7,670,000 including prejudgment interest) for an immigrant struck in a crosswalk by a careless taxi driver. The plaintiff spoke no English and suffered from severe prior mental health issues for which she was hospitalized during the year before the accident. Difficulties with language, cognition, and the victim’s righteous refusal to voice any of her deficits that caused a mild traumatic brain injury to go undiagnosed for the first five years following the accident. Mark and Mr. Bulone were, nonetheless, able to prove the link between the car accident, the mild traumatic brain injury and the residual deficits that unfairly afflicted the hard-working mother of three.
In May 2021, Mark won one of the top 15 personal injury verdicts in California that year of $15,477,235, plus an attorney fee award of $1,070,000, and because of that case, was a finalist for the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles (CAALA) Trial Lawyer of the Year. The plaintiff was catastrophically injured while riding with a co-worker who was intoxicated. The defense claimed that plaintiff, who was also intoxicated, was 100% responsible for his injuries as they asserted that plaintiff had assumed the risk knowing that the defendant was drunk but got in his vehicle anyway. Mark was able to overcome this argument, where the jury held the defendant 75% responsible and awarded future damages for the rest of his life.
In January 2025, Mark won a 10-year battle against three governmental entities in El Dorado County, including an interim appeal, where Mark won all three phases of trial, ultimately obtaining a decision that the Defendants had violated California’s Mitigation Fee Act, where they were forced to refund to homeowners in the County the improperly collected and retained building fees plus accrued interest. All three defendants appealed and then settled for a total of $25,273,440.
Mark is licensed to practice law before all courts in the State of California and is also actively licensed in the State of Nevada. He is also admitted to practice in the federal courts in the Eastern and Central Districts of California.
Mark is a member of CAALA, the Consumer Attorneys of California, the Beverly Hills Bar Association, and the Los Angeles County Bar Association. Mark was also one of the hosts of a legal radio show, “Fighting for Justice.” Mark is not only a dedicated attorney but also a loving father of four. After hours, Mark can be found playing his office piano, a passion that resonates with his dedication to harmony and precision in his professional work.
