From the Bar Mark Christopher Menser, Esq. “My parents were first-generation immigrants, and they were upwardly mobile,” said Mark Menser. That explains the reason he became an attorney. “I was the oldest son. I was told, ‘You will be the lawyer.’ ” Today he’s an associate attorney at Musca Law, and while he’s had many standout triumphs, he’s happiest operating outside of the limelight. “I love research and writing, and I love arguing the big issues: the death penalty, the Constitution, the heavy stuff.” That’s not to say he shies away from trial work. Menser describes himself as very competitive. However, “my love is more on the intellectual end.” He’s used to making his own way. His father was a master calligrapher who did hand-lettered invitations for no less than Buckingham Palace and the White House, but the work wasn’t steady. “Whenever we had a commission, we knew it because we had furniture,” he recalled. Ultimately, Menser worked his way through college and paid his own way to law school. While at the state’s Attorney General’s Office, he litigated a great number of appellate and post-conviction proceedings on behalf of the State of Florida. Career highlights include his successful litigation of the landmark case of Spaziano v. Florida. He also helped engineer Ted Bundy’s third death sentence, which was subsequently carried out. Additionally, he’s been involved with several major class actions. When he was with the law firm of Viles & Beckman, P.A., he worked on the cases that led to the Firestone Tire and Vioxx recalls. The attorney’s daily routine offers little fodder to the headline writers. “Mostly it’s a combination of going to hearings and doing research and preparing cases, he asserted. What motivates him is the “very strong sense of satisfaction to take a case that’s devastating to the victims, get them back on track and get their problems solved.” He wishes people better understood that attorneys fees don’t go into lawyers’ pockets, but rather toward the upkeep of the firm. Especially at a large operation like Musca, fees garnered by Menser help support 20 to 30 people, not to mention general business expenses like utilities and insurance. Outside of work, he is a tournament chess player. Also, he and his wife are avid wildlife photographers. |RG|
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2013
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