Mark Oium

Mark was born on February 1, 1952 in Madison, Minnesota. He attended the University of Minnesota and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree, Cum Laude, in 1974. He then attended law school at the University of San Francisco and obtained his J.D. Degree in 1977. He was admitted to the California Bar in 1978 and began practicing with O'Connor, Cohn, Dillon & Barr, a mid-sized civil defense law firm.

In his 23 years at OCD&B, Mark developed his own clients and tried many different types of civil cases, including products liability cases, toxic tort cases, and medical malpractice cases. He became a partner of the firm in 1982. He became a member of the American Bar Association, the Defense Research Institute, and the Association of Defense Counsel of Northern California.

Mark and his partner, Keith Reyen, founded Oium & Reyen in March of 2001. Virgil Pryor joined the firm in February of 2004 and the firm became Oium Reyen & Pryor.

Mark's trial work included unique and groundbreaking cases. He was the lead trial attorney for a local chemical facility in Fresno accused of polluting the groundwater and causing illness and disease to local residents. The first trial in this matter lasted four months and all defendants obtained defense verdicts. In the early 1990s, Mark was asked to represent a traffic radar manufacturer who had been sued in various federal district courts. Mark became the national coordinating counsel for these cases, all of which alleged that plaintiffs developed some type of cancer as a result of exposure to police traffic radar devices. The first trial in this matter in 1993 in the Northern District Court of California in San Francisco resulted in a defense verdict. All other cases after that were dismissed either voluntarily or as a result of motions for summary judgment.

Mark's extensive trial work resulted in him being invited to become a member of the prestigious American Board of Trial Advocates in 2000.

Mark has also developed expertise in mediations and arbitrations, both privately and for San Francisco Superior Court. He has been an arbitrator and mediator for the San Francisco Superior Court system for the last 10 years.

Mark's hobbies and interests include membership in San Francisco's Olympic Club, San Francisco's Lawyers Friends of Wine, and the Harding Park Golf Club. His hobbies include gardening, tennis, golf, wine appreciation, and sports. He and his wife Kathy have two daughters, Dana and Kelsey.