Mark Thomson
Counsel
Mark’s practice centers on litigation, where his clients have prevailed over billion-dollar media conglomerates, high-profile politicos, Fortune 500 companies, and all manner of professional detractors. Most recently, he won an $8 million jury verdict on behalf of a global philanthropist, as well as a high-stakes appeal against a sitting Member of Congress. Before that, he was part of the team that obtained a $787.5 million settlement from Fox News for spreading falsehoods about the 2020 election.
Outside court, Mark’s achieved scores of corrections and retractions from print publications, television broadcasters, and movie studios. Many of his most important wins, however, come from nipping false and defamatory narratives in the bud before they ever imperil his clients’ reputations. The goal’s always the same: vindicating the truth and fighting for truthfulness.
Before he was a defamation and First Amendment litigator, Mark was a deputy director at a federal agency, an appellate and regulatory lawyer at an AmLaw 100 firm, and a law clerk for three federal judges. When he’s not solving clients’ legal or reputational problems, you can find him hiking in the wilderness, playing any sport that’s on offer, or relaxing at home with his wife and their pup, Leo.
Representative Matters
Equity Prime Mortgage v. Greene for Congress: Represents Georgia mortgage company in defamation litigation against Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Toptal LLC v. Bloomberg L.P.: Defeated Bloomberg’s motion to dismiss defamation claim based on article falsely reporting that successful startup cheated early investor out of equity.
Chandler v. Berlin: Represented international philanthropist in litigation against author of defamatory dossier, culminating in $8 million jury verdict.
Dominion Voting Systems v. Fox News Network: Member of trial team that obtained a record $787 million settlement from Fox News Network for broadcasting false and defamatory claims about voting machines used in the 2020 Presidential Election.
MillerCoors v. Anheuser-Busch Companies: Crafted arguments that spurred a federal trial court to preliminarily enjoin one of the world’s largest brewing companies from publishing false and misleading claims about its competitor’s products.
Representative Publications
Textualism and the Administrative Procedure Act, 98 Notre Dame L. Rev. 2071 (2023) (with Kristin Hickman)
The Chevronization of Auer, 103 Minn. L. Rev. Headnotes 103 (2019) (with Kristin Hickman)
Open Minds and Harmless Errors, 101 Cornell L. Rev. 261 (2016) (with Kristin Hickman)
Education
University of Minnesota Law School, J.D., magna cum laude
University of Wisconsin-Madison, B.A., comprehensive honors
Experience
Associate, Clare Locke LLP, 2021-2023
Deputy Director, Administrative Conference of the United States, 2019-2021
Associate, Crowell & Moring LLP 2016-2019
Law Clerk, Chief Judge Ed E. Carnes, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, 2015-2016
Law Clerk, Judge John M. Rogers, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, 2014-2015
Law Clerk, Judge Robert J. Jonker, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, 2012-2013
Admissions
District of Columbia
Minnesota (Inactive)
U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Third, Ninth, Tenth, District of Columbia, and Federal Circuits
U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia