Mark A. Cobb w/ Cobb Law Group

Practice Areas:

•    Construction Law

•    Subcontractor Law

•    Bond & Surety Claims

•    Materialmen Liens

•    Small Business Law

•    Corporate Law

•    Transactional (Buy/Sell)

Biography:

Mark is the named, founding partner of the Cobb Law Group.  For over 20 years, Mark has concentrated his practice primarily in the area of subcontractor & construction law and small business law including such diverse areas as business entity formation, contract drafting and interpretation, AIA document review, construction liens, payment bond claims, and Miller Act litigation.  Throughout the course of his distinguished legal career, Mark has represented many international, national and regional firms while also serving on numerous private and non-profit boards.  He is currently working on a book to be published by the ABA on Subcontractor Law (click here for more information on this publication) and serves as adjunct faculty in the Thomas University MBA program.

Mark was born in Pensacola, Florida, and spent his childhood in Pensacola and Atlanta.  After receiving the Presidential Scholarship, Mark attended Berry College and earned a degree in English with a double minor in economics and political science.  His name regularly appeared on the Dean’s List, and he was a member of several academic societies including Omicron Delta Kappa (ODK), as well as the national English honor society and the national political science honor society.  While a student, he managed a 25 person, student newspaper staff, and while editor-in-chief, the newspaper received the highest award from the Georgia College Newspaper Association.  While in college, Mark began preparations for his legal career by working for the law firm of Boling, Rice & Bettis in Cumming, Georgia and the Florida District Attorney’s Office in DeFuniak Springs, Florida.  He considers both of these experiences invaluable for shaping his legal mind and beginning good business habits.

Immediately following his graduation from college, Mark began his legal studies at top-rankedWashington and Lee University School of Law.  Founded in 1749, W&L is the sixth oldest institution of higher learning in the United States, and it is the only school named for George Washington for which he supported financially.  Following the American Civil War, General Robert E. Lee assumed the presidency of the small liberal arts college (then known as Washington College) and worked to make the school thrive.  He attached a local law school to the college, and, following Lee’s death the school was renamed to honor him.  The law school remains one of the best in the country, and Mark studied under some of the finest legal minds in the profession.  While there, his classmates elected him to serve as their class representative to the Executive Committee, a university-wide committee of 13 students who are responsible for all aspects of student government and the honor council.  In addition, Mark was a member of the Student Bar Association, and Phi Delta Phi, a legal fraternity.  As a part-time job during school, Mark was a research assistant for a professor researching the limits of the Freedom of Information Act.  He also volunteered at the Reeves Center, a museum on-campus concentrating in Chinese export porcelain.  Although he had several successful law school internships, Mark remembers his time at Taylor, Moseley and Joyner (now Moseley, Warren, Prichard & Parrish) in Jacksonville, Florida vary fondly as he tackled maritime and international law issues.

Following law school, Mark accepted a job at a small, boutique law firm in Atlanta where he began to build his own client base, hone his legal skills, and increase his business skills.  In 1994, when Georgia’s lien laws began to change, Mark took the initiative and began a service sending Notices to Owner’s on behalf of his clients.  As a result, several Fortune 500 firms began to use his services, and in 1998, Mark opened his own firm.  Although he did not do any advertising, clients continued to seek his services.

In 2007, Mark took a sabbatical from work.  During this time he and his wife lived in France and began working on some personal writing projects.  Upon his return to work, he felt a renewed enthusiasm for his career and clients and began focusing his energies on client development.  Under his leadership, he moved the firm away from paper files, and using an off-site server, was able to increase the efficiency of the firm.  His current project includes taking the firm “virtual”, offering a la carte legal services, and improving efficiency in order to improve legal services while lowering costs to his clients.

Mark lives in Thomsville with his wife, two children and an English Setter named Molly.  They attend All Saints’ Episcopal Church where he serves on the Vestry.  Mark is the chairman-elect of the Board of Trustees for the Vashti Center, president of the Washington and Lee Thomasville–Tallahassee Alumni Club, and acting treasurer of the Southwest Georgia Technical College Foundation.  Mark was recently appointed to the Board of the Thomasville Antique Show Foundation which supports local children’s charities.  His is an active member of the American Ceramic Circle as well as several genealogical societies.  He enjoys hiking, tennis, backgammon, and wing shooting.

Bar and Court Admissions:

•    American Bar Association

•    Georgia State Bar

•    Alabama State Bar

•    United States District Court, Northern District of Georgia

•    United States Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit

•    Georgia Court of Appeals

•    Georgia Supreme Court

Education:

•    Washington and Lee University School of Law, J.D., 1991

•    Berry College, B.A., 1988

•    Institut de Francais, certificate, 2007

Memberships & Awards:

•    American Bar Association (ABA)

•    ABA Forum Committee on the Construction Industry

•    ABA Sub-Committee on Specialty Contractors & Suppliers

•    ABA Sub-Committee on Insurance, Surety & Liens

•    ABA Sub-Committee on Dispute Avoidance & Resolution

•    ABA Law Practice Management Section

•    Alabama State Bar Association

•    Thomas County Bar Association

•    Georgia Branch, Associated General Contractors (AGC Georgia)

•    Associated General Contractors of America, Inc. (AGC)

•    American Subcontractor’s Association (ASA)

•    American Subcontractor’s Association–Georgia Chapter (ASA Georgia)

•    Construction Suppliers Association (CSA)

•    Omicron Delta Kappa (national honor & service fraternity)

•    Thomasville Landmarks, Inc.

•    National Trust for Historic Preservation

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