Mark S. Davis

Mark S. Davis, founding partner of Davis Levin Livingston, has been representing Plaintiffs in Hawai’i, including all the Islands, for fifty years. Davis Levin Livingston is one of the oldest and most successful Plaintiffs firms in Hawai’i with a long history of unmatched verdicts and results.

Mr. Davis has been recognized as one of the best trial lawyers in the country. He is the only Hawai’i lawyer admitted to The Inner Circle of Advocates, a group of the 100 best trial lawyers in the country. His firm, in recent days, obtained the highest Federal Tort Claims judgment in Hawai’i history, the highest settlement of a state tort liability case in Hawai’i, history, the highest individual damages award in a child abuse case in Hawai’i history. He was a lead attorney in the Marco Polo fire case and has had award winning verdicts on all the neighbor islands. Admitted to practice in Hawaii in 1974, Mark S. Davis has spent over four decades fighting for his clients’ rights in and out of the courtroom. He has gained recognition not only for the results he has been able to achieve but for his professionalism, integrity, and ethics in the complex field of birth injury law.

Mr. Davis finds great satisfaction in representing the injured, voiceless, and wronged. In fighting for the defenseless, he works not only to improve their lives but to improve conditions for future generations.

PRACTICE AREAS

• Class Actions
• Civil Rights
• Consumer Rights
• Insurance Bad Faith
• Medical Malpractice
• Personal Injury

EDUCATION

• Southampton University, England, 1969-1970
• Tulane University
  • B.A. cum laude, with honors in Political Science, 1971
• Washington University, J.D., 1974
  • Law Review: Associate Topics Editor, Urban Law Annual, 1973-1974

BAR ADMISSIONS

• Hawaii Supreme Court, 1974
• U.S. District Court, District of Hawaii, 1974
• Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, 1974
• U.S. Court of International Trade, 1975
• U.S. Court of Customs and Patent Appeals, 1976
• U.S. Supreme Court, 1979

PROFESSIONAL HONORS & ASSOCIATIONS

• 2014 Distinguished Alumni by Washington University Law School in St. Louis
• Selected to the Best Lawyers In America since 1991
• Selected 2009 Lawyer of the Year
• Selected to Super Lawyers 2008 - 2020
• Member and President-Elect of the Inner Circle of Advocates – “100 of the Best Plaintiff Lawyers in America”
• Selected as A+ Attorney by Honolulu Magazine, 1993
• Inner Circle of Advocates (1997)
• Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers (inducted 1992)
• Founding Fellow, Hawaii Academy of Plaintiffs’ Attorneys
• Fellow, The Roscoe Pound Foundation
• President, Consumer Lawyers of Hawaii (1998-99)
• Governor and Hawaii Representative to the National Board of Governors of the American Association for Justice (AAJ) (1988-present)
• Life Member, American Association for Justice (AAJ)
• Lawyer Representative, Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference (1993-96)
• Member, Chief Justice’s Commission on Lawyer Professionalism
• Listed, “Best Lawyers in America” (1991-present)
• Delegate, Hawaii Federal Judicial Mini-Conference (1989-92)
• Delegate, First Hawaii State Judicial Conference (1986-89)
• Director, National Board of Directors American Civil Liberties Union (1982-85)
• Graduate, National College of Advocacy Advanced Course in Trial Advocacy (1987)
• Member, Hawaii Medical Association Medical Legal Committee (1985)
• Chairman, Hawaii State Bar Assoc. Committee on Attorney Solicitation and Advertising (1990-present)
• Chairman, 1991 Mid-Winter Convention of American Association for Justice (AAJ)
• Member, Public Affairs Committee, American Association for Justice (AAJ) (1991-present)
• Member, Litigation Com. and Volunteer Attorney of the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii
• Editor, Hawaii State Bar Association Motor Vehicle Collision Manual
• Director, Hawaii Institute of Continuing Legal Education
• Counsel, Presidential Campaign of Jimmy Carter for State of Hawaii (1976)
• Recipient, Research Grant, Law Students Civil Rights Research Council (1973)
• Researcher/Counsel’s Staff, U. S. House Judiciary Committee on Impeachment (1974)
• Chairman, Committee on Courts, Association of Trial Lawyers of America (1996-1997)
• Chairman, Ad Hoc Com. on Discipline of United States District Court, District of Hawaii (1997)
• Governor, Western Trial Lawyers Association (1998-present)
• Lawdragon 500 Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers (2019)

LECTURES & TEACHING

• Speaker, “High Crimes and Misdemeanors: The Legal Basis For Impeachment”
  Public Affairs Council of Washington, D.C. (1974)
• Speaker, NBE Course, “Personal Injury Litigation Practice in Hawaii” (1988)
• Papers: “Identifying the Million Dollar Case: Initial Consideration in Accepting the Personal Injury Case;” “Evaluating Settlement Proposals”
• Speaker, NBE Course, “Medical Malpractice in Hawaii” (1988)
• Papers: “Assessing and Evaluating the Malpractice Case: Practical Considerations; Prosecution of a Malpractice Case – Trial Pointers: Plaintiff’s Perspective”
• Speaker, “Chiropractic Malpractice: New Developments in the Law”
  Hawaii State Chiropractic Convention (1987)
• Speaker, “Confidentiality of Medical Records”
  Continuing Education for American Medical Record Association (June 16, 1988)
• Speaker, “The Next Legal Frontier for People With Disabilities: Actions For Damages”
  ABA National Convention (Aug. 7, 1989)
• Lecture,“Deposition: Pointers for the Healthcare Provider”
  Medical Staff St. Francis Hospital
  Honolulu, Hawaii, (July 27, 1989)
• Speaker, “Litigation Workshop: Winning the Battle of the Experts”
  Hawaii State Bar Association
  Hawaii Institute For Continuing Legal Education, (November 17, 1989)
• Lecture,“Legal Liabilities and Nursing Malpractice”
  International Nursing Conference
  Honolulu, Hawaii (June 12, 1990)
• Speaker, “Depositions: Strategies, Tactics and Mechanics”
  P.E.S.I. Seminar (February 15, 1990)
• Speaker, “Confidentiality of Medical Records”
  Lorman Business Center, Inc. Seminar
  Honolulu, Hawaii (June 13, 1990)
• Lecturer, “Punahou Advanced Placement Course on First Amendment”
• Speaker, “Litigating the FTCA Case: The Plaintiffs’ Perspective”
  ATLA National Convention
  San Diego, CA (July 22, 1990)
• Speaker, “Handling Abusive Discovery Tactics: A Strategy For Response”
  ATLA Mid-Winter Convention
  Maui, Hawaii (January, 1991)
• Speaker, “Hawaii Evidence Workshop”
  P.E.S.I. Seminar (April 19,1991)
• Speaker, “Handling Abusive Discovery Tactics; A Strategy for Response”
  North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers, Masters in Advocacy Program
  Myrtle Beach, South Carolina (June 15, 1991),
• Speaker, “Abusive Discovery Tactics”
  Melvin Belli Seminar, (AAJ Convention)
  Toronto, Canada (July 20, 1991),
• Speaker, “New Developments in Medical Malpractice”
  Fourth Annual Seminar on Tort Law, Pacific Law Institute
  Honolulu, Hawaii (September 14, 1991),
• Speaker, “Hawaii State Training Program for Court Arbitrators”
  Pacific Law Institute
  Honolulu, Hawaii (May 20, 1992)
• Speaker, “Hawaii Evidence Workshop”
  Professional Education Systems, Inc. (December 4, 1992)
• Speaker, “Financing Telecommunications Development: A Local Perspective”
  Pacific Telecommunications Conference
  Honolulu, Hawaii (January 19, 1993)
• Panelist, “Modifications to the New Rule 26 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure”
  Mini-Federal Judicial Conference, U. S. District Court for the District of Hawaii
  Honolulu, Hawaii (April 16, 1993)
• Speaker, “Bad Faith Litigation from the Plaintiff’s Perspective”
  Recent Developments in Insurance Law Seminar, Lorman Business Seminars
  Hyatt Regency Hotel, Honolulu, Hawaii (April 22, 1993)
• Moderator, “Improving Judicial Relations with Congress: Should Federal Judges Speak
  out on Policy Issues”
  Panel Discussion, U. S. District Court Mini Judicial Conference
  Kahala Hilton Hotel, Honolulu, Hawaii (May 20, 1994)
• Speaker, “Evidence In The Courtroom”
  Pacific Law Institute
  Honolulu, Hawaii (May 26, 1994)
• Moderator, “Cutting Edge Practice Pointers: Discovery & Pretrial Strategy”
  Hawaii Institute For Continuing Legal Education,
  Honolulu, Hawaii (May 27, 1994)
• Speaker, “Litigating Professional Negligence Claims Against the U.S. Government: Tactical Considerations”
  AAJ National Convention, Professional Negligence Section
  Hyatt Regency Hotel, Chicago, Illinois (July 26, 1994)
• Speaker, “Emotional Distress Damages in Hawaii”
  Hawaii Bar Association Convention, Seminar on Causation and Damages in Civil Cases
  Ilikai Hotel, Honolulu, Hawaii (December 1, 1994)
• Speaker, The Intuitive Art of Cross Examination
  Western Trial Lawyers Convention
  Kapalua Ritz Carlton Hotel (June 15, 1998)
• Speaker, “Changing The Rules: Innovative Trial Techniques That Work”
  Weekend With The Stars, AAJ Seminar
  New York, New York (December 9, 2007)
• Speaker, “Case Framing” AAJ National Convention, Maui Hawaii (Feb.5, 2016
• Speaker, “Reflections on The Thirty Years War” Inner Circle of Advocates, San Francisco (Feb.2017)
• Speaker, “Changing the Rules: Doing Well Doing Good” Connecticut Trial Lawyers Convention, Trumbull, Connecticut (April 6, 2018)

BOOKS

• Davis, Mark S., Carlson, Ronald J., A Citizen’s Guide to Impeachment, an unpublished manuscript, (1974)
• Wong, Michael J.Y., Davis, Mark S., Duffy, James E., Komeiji, John T., Editors, The Hawaii Motor Vehicle Collision Manual, Hawaii Institute for Continuing Legal Education, Hawaii State Bar Association. (1990)
• Wong, Michael J.Y., Davis, Mark S. et.al., Editors, The Hawaii Motor Vehicle Collision Manual 1994 Update, Hawaii Institute for Continuing Legal Education, Hawaii State Bar Association. (1994)

ARTICLES

• “Class Action Benefits Consumers”, TRIAL Magazine page 24 (April 1997)
• “Making the System Deliver Justice”, 27 CAOC FORUM page 28 (January/February 1997)
• “What You Need to Know About Emotional Distress Damages”, Hawaii Institute For Continuing Education, Materials on Causation and Damages In Civil Cases (1994)
• “Handling Abusive Discovery Tactics: A strategy for Response”, 1991 AJA National College of Advocacy Reference Manual 19 (1991)
• “Handling Abusive Discovery Tactics”, 10 Products Liability L. Rptr. 152 (October, 1991)
• “Litigating the Federal Tort Claim Case: Tactical Considerations”, 1990 A National College of Advocacy Reference Manual 869 (1990)
• “Privacy Considerations in Medicaid Fraud Investigations: The Unwarranted Paper Chase”, 32 The Clinical Psychologist 19, Spring 1979
• “The Ports and Waterways Safety Act of 1972: An Expansion of the Federal Approach to Oil Pollution”, 6 Journal of Maritime Law and Commerce 249, 1975
• “Standing to Challenge Housing Discrimination: The Limits of Trafficante v. Metropolitan Life”, 7 Urban Law Annual 31, 1974