Mark Venardi
Partner
Mark Venardi was born in 1962 in Seattle, Washington. He was raised in Peoria, IL, a Midwest blue-collar town. He enlisted in the United States Coast Guard and proudly served from 1980 through 1985. He spent the first two years on a sea-going tug performing search and rescue and marine law enforcement from the Grand Banks to the Windward Passage aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Tamaroa, which was the Coast Guard vessel that performed the rescue in “The Perfect Storm.”
Every day I think about where I’m from and how it has felt in my own life to have people care, so I am committed to helping people from all walks of life receive justice for their injuries.
Mark Venardi
Mark Venardi, the senior founding member of the Venardi Zurada Law firm, was born in 1962 in Seattle, Washington but was raised in Peoria, Illinois; a Midwest blue-collar town in a hardworking Italian family of 3 boys. After high school Mark followed his passion for service and the sea and enlisted in the United States Coast Guard, where he proudly served our country from 1980 to 1985.
Life at Sea
During his military career at sea, Mark was assigned an incredible variety of challenging tours. From working on a sea-going tug performing search and rescue and marine law enforcement to sailing the Eastern seaboard in boats ranging from 37 to 205 feet. His early years were spent sailing from the Grand Banks to the Windward Passage on the famed Coast Guard Cutter Tamaroa, the Cutter that later performed the rescue in the movie “The Perfect Storm.” From the Tamaroa he then sailed the seas of Southeast Alaska aboard the Coast Guard cutter Planetree, a 180-buoy tender, a tour that also included a round trip voyage from Alaska to Hawaii. Mark’s final year in the Coast Guard was spent back in search and rescue at Group Seattle and it is from there that he received an honorable discharge in 1985 from the USCG as an E-5.
Law School
After serving our country and a short stint on an oil platform, Mark decided to pursue a career in law. He earned a B.A. in Political Science from the University of California at Berkeley in 1991 and his JD from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in 1994. During law school, Mark was the Co-Chairperson of the Moot Court Competition Committee, a recipient of the Snodgrass Competition Outstanding Oral Argument Award, a member of the University of San Francisco Maritime Law Review, and served as a Judicial Extern to the Honorable Charles Legge, United States District Court Northern District of California. Mark was admitted to the California Bar in December 1994.
Career
After graduating law school Mark worked as an associate at Cox Wootton, Griffin & Hansen before joining Haight, Gardner, Holland & Knight in 1998. Mark made partner at the end of his 6th year of practice at Holland & Knight LLP, a multinational law firm with over 1,000 attorneys. In his first years of practice, one of the managing partners regularly shared his short mantra, “Be somebody.” Those words stuck with Mark and while he loved his early years of practice, he found himself wanting to do more. In 2004 he struck out on his own, deciding to serve people instead of corporations. Even with the huge move to the other side, there was no hiccup in Mark’s rapid rise to the top, and he has been serving members of the community with compassion and dogged determination ever since.
What Drives Him
When you ask Mark where he gets his drive from, he is quick to cite the example of his mother who was struck with illness at an early age and has lived her life without complaint. Her strength is one of the reasons he believes in being self-disciplined, dedicated, and above all positive. Mark is passionate about caring for people and does much of what he does to ensure that he will create a legacy of working for justice. Mark knows that the people who seek his counsel are living through the worst times of their lives, and it matters to him that those he helps have faith in him and know he can be trusted. Mark will take risks for you, he will fight for you, and he won’t give up until you are satisfied.
Mark is most proud of how he has helped clients in need, his friendships, the dedication he and his employees have to each other, and his family. Together, they enjoy anything waterborne including power boating, surfing, sailing, wake surfing, wakeboarding, fishing, and scuba diving. They also love camping, road biking, mountain biking, and his most competitive sport of all, Scrabble, which he regularly (and happily) loses to his wife, Shelley, who has lit his way for over 30 years.
Honors and Awards
- Northern California SuperLawyers, 2009-2024
- 2023 California Top 100 Verdicts
- 2023 California Top 50 Verdicts
- “AV” rating from Martindale-Hubbell, 2001-2024
- Million and Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum, Lifetime Member since 2007
- Recipient, Outstanding Oral Argument Award, Snodgrass Competition, 1993
Recognitions
- Mark is one of the select few graduates of Gerry Spence’s Trial Lawyer’s College, the most demanding and prestigious trial lawyer program in the country.
- From 2004-2024, his peers have awarded him with a Martindale Hubbell “AV” Preeminent Rating.
- Throughout his career, Mark has also tried multiple cases to verdict and received multiple verdicts more than $1,000,000, entitling him to be a member of the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum, an organization made up of less than 1 percent of US lawyers.
Bar Admissions
- California, 1994
- All State Courts within California
- U.S. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit
- U.S. District Court Northern District of California
- U.S. District Court Central District of California
- U.S. District Court Southern District of California
- Mark has also litigated cases “pro hac vice” or as a guest attorney in New Hampshire, Arizona, Minnesota, Washington, Oregon, and Hawaii.
Education
- Gerry Spence’s Trial Lawyers College, studied trial skills over a 5 year period and graduated from the Trial Lawyers College in August, 2013
- Pepperdine University, Strauss Institute for Dispute Resolution, became a certified mediator upon completion of required coursework in 2012
- University of San Francisco, patent law class. Earned an A in class.
- University of California, Hastings College of the Law, San Francisco, California
- J.D. – 1994
- Honors: Snodgrass Award for Best Oral Argument
- Honors: Chairman, Moot Court Competition Committee
- Law Review: University of San Francisco Maritime Law Review, Member, 1994
- University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California
- B.A. – 1991
- Major: Political Science
Published Works
- Author, “To Arbitrate or Not”, Silicon Valley Business Weekly, 2001
Classes/Seminars
- Speaker, “A Primer on Maritime Law”, Young Barristers’ Division Admiralty Committee, 1995
- “Investigating Personal Injury Claims”, California Association of Private Investigators, 1996
- “California Lawyer Roundtable Discussion on Employment Law”, 2002
- “Employment Related Records in California”, Lorman Education Services, 2003
- “Employment Related Records in California”, Lorman Education Services, 2004
Professional Associations and Memberships
- Consumer Attorneys of California
- American Association of Justice
- San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association
- National Employment Lawyers Association
- California Employment Lawyers Association
- Contra Costa County Bar Association, Board Member Employment Law Section 2011, 2012, 2013
- American Bar Associations, Member
- State Bar of California, Member
Past Employment Positions
- Cox Wootton, Griffin & Hansen LLP, Associate 1994-1998
- Haight, Gardner Holland & Knight LLP, Associate 1998-2000
- Holland & Knight LLP, Partner 2001-2004
Veteran
- United States Coast Guard, 1980-1985
Areas of Practice
- Auto Accidents
- Motorcycle Accidents
- Boating Accidents
- Trucking Accidents
- Personal Injury
- Wrongful Death
- Maritime Personal Injury
- Employment Law
- Harassment
- Discrimination
- Whistleblower Protection Cases
- Retaliation
- Wage and Hour
- Severance Agreements
- Employment Agreements
- Executive Compensation
- Insurance Bad Faith
- Select Commercial and Intellectual Property Disputes on Contingency Fee
Mark Venardi’s Results
Settlement
Multi-Million Dollar
Discrimination Claims
Martin Zurada and Mark Venardi led a team that obtained a multi-million recovery for a group of deserving clients. We are not afraid to turn down significant initial offers which are insufficient to compensate our clients and change defendant’s behavior. We roll up our sleeves, put on the gloves, and fight it out with the defense. If getting the best possible result means holding on until trial to resolve the case, or fighting the case at trial, we will do whatever it takes. We put our clients in the best possible position to obtain a maximum result.
Partner
Partner
Settlement
$7.125 Million
Boat Accidents
Our client was an 80 year-old passenger in a tender vessel. The vessel rose quickly on a wave and fell quickly causing our client to suffer a spine fracture that required a two-level fusion surgery.
Partner
Settlement
$6.5 Million
Premise Liability
Our client suffered life altering injury when they fell down 2 flights of stairs that were improperly maintained.
Settlement
$6 Million
Pedestrian Accidents
Mark Venardi accepted a case that no one else would take and turned a $50,000 offer just before trial into a $6,000,000 settlement. A homeless man that was crossing against a red light was hit by a vehicle in a crosswalk at night. The client was badly injured with a brain injury and multiple orthopedic injuries. The prior law firm withdrew from representing the client. The client tried to retain other law firms from all over the San Francisco Bay Area. All of the law firms declined the case. Three months before trial in October 2023, the client saw one of our commercials and called our firm. We evaluated the case, which was challenging on some of the liability issues, and researched the defendant to determine whether the defendant had assets. The defendant did. We accepted the case, moved the trial court to continue the trial date, to reopen fact and expert discovery, and to reinstate our client’s right to a jury trial, which had been waived. At that time, the Defendant’s offer in the case was $50,000. Our firm then vigorously worked the case up for trial. We retained an accident reconstruction expert, night vision expert, orthopedic medical expert, neurologist, neuroradiologist, neuropsychologist, life care planner, and an economist. We represented our client with complete commitment to obtaining justice and achieved a $6,000,000 resolution just 30 days before the trial. Now our deserving client is taken care of for life.
Partner
Arbitration Award
$4.9 Million
Business Cases
ABC Corp v. XYZ Corp. Defendants, a publicly traded company, terminated a licensing agreement with our client and nearly forced our client into bankruptcy, which is why they could not afford to pay an attorney on an hourly basis. We were the third attorneys on the case. Defendants offered $900,000 on the first day of arbitration and asserted that, if we did not accept it, they were going to prove that our clients were crooks. We rejected the offer and obtained an arbitration award for $4,900,000.
Partner
Client Reviews
"They helped me out when I got into an accident"
VZ are the best in the bay! They helped me out when I got into an accident, I can’t say anything bad about them.
Robert-Christopher G.
"Felt comfortable around the people here"
Friendly and clean environment. Felt comfortable around the people here.
Katarina B.
"They were very understanding"
I really appreciated Venardi Zurada LLP, they were great help and were very understanding of my predicament. Communication was always available and consistent and amicable. I would absolutely recommend them to anyone who has issues at work or otherwise and is seeking legal action or justice for any wrongdoing.
Ava B.
"Call Venardi Zurada for any of your PI needs"
The VZ team are such a great help. Call Venardi Zurada for any of your PI needs they are the best!
Nohra R.
"Overall Great Firm"
Everyone is professional, overall great firm!
Fabian P.
We Take Care Of Our Clients
Our clients are at the heart of everything we do. We take pride in providing exceptional service, personalized attention, and unwavering support throughout each case. The testimonials from our clients reflect their satisfaction with our commitment to their well-being, highlighting the care, expertise, and dedication we bring to every case. We’re honored to have earned the trust and appreciation of those we’ve had the privilege to serve.