Attorney Mark Sparks – What makes you proud to be an attorney

Ferguson Law Firm Attorney Mark Sparks explains the importance of a trial attorney.

Early on in my career, I didn't have a wife and kids, so I had a lot of free time at night. I didn't have the obligations a lot of my partners and colleagues have — families and Little League and things that consume time. Wonderful things. So I made the decision that instead of sitting home watching four hours of Family Guy, I needed to do something. I got involved with the Jefferson County Bar Association — very heavily. We have an excellent director named Bonnie Dean. I've been in every position: I'm a past president, and I'm currently elected vice president — I think this is my second time as vice president.

I dove headlong into the pro bono program in Jefferson County. We have an amazing bar in this county — it wins statewide awards every year, quietly taking home awards thanks to Bonnie and Melissa. When I won that award in 2013, thirteen years ago, it reconfirmed for me why I became a lawyer: because these are people who can't afford a lawyer, who are being bullied either by a spouse — often an abusive spouse — or by a paid lawyer. When I show up in court, the look on their faces is worth everything. It's rebalancing an imbalance that shouldn't exist simply because the client didn't have any money.

So it's the Jefferson County pro bono work that I continue to do. I always have active pro bono cases, typically family law cases. I usually end up resolving those cases, but I've had to try a few to verdict.