Mark focuses his practice on all aspects of school law, representing students, parents, teachers, university faculty and administrators. Mark formerly served as day-to-day and defense counsel for traditional public schools, but started representing students/parents/educators in 2014 when he co-founded Abdnour Weiker, LLP.
Mark represents students “preschool through PhD” in disciplinary and special education issues, and represents school employees in school discipline, contract and separation issues, and for education licensure investigations conducted by state Departments of Education.
Mark has written and spoken on a variety of education-related topics including FERPA, student privacy laws, high school athletic eligibility, access to student educational records, special education rights and responsibilities, IDEA, state Operating Standards, suspension and expulsion rights for students, college codes of conduct and academic misconduct, public records, FLMA, sovereign immunity and qualified immunity for schools, dress codes, student civil and constitutional rights, childhood sexual assault claims, and liability waivers, among several others. Mark has completed training to act as a surrogate parent for students with disabilities, holds a sports agent license issued by the Ohio Athletic Commission and serves as an arbitrator for education-related contract matters.
Mark most enjoys playing legos and dominoes with his son, seeing his daughter dance, and learning and laughing about parenting with his wife.
Recent Representative Cases
• Restored eligibility for a high school basketball player who was denied special education support services and, as a result, was wrongfully removed from the basketball team.
• Obtained settlement in a state court case brought against a private school after the school improperly dismissed an elementary student because of the student’s disability.
• Obtained immediate reinstatement and graduation for a professional student with Tourette Syndrome who was accused of having a verbal outburst during and after a final exam and initially dismissed from the program.
• Successfully defended university student against academic misconduct charge after she was incorrectly accused of allowing another student to look at her answers during an exam.
• Achieved athletic reinstatement for a high school volleyball player who was inappropriately removed from her team for practicing while she was supposedly positive for Covid-19 (unbeknownst to her).
• Reached settlement with state university in federal court after nursing student was improperly dismissed from the program because of her disability.
• Sucessfully avoided licensure misconduct charges for a substitute teacher by demonstrating in a hearing that the restraint applied by the teacher to a combative high school student was appropriate under the circumstances.
• Obtained private settlement for special education student sexually assaulted on high school property by an older student.
• Achieved a “not responsible” outcome for a foreign undergraduate student accused by a state university of taking exams for other students.
• Achieved immediate reinstatement for a high school student who was wrongly accused of participating in a fight, using evidence establishing that the student was stalked and harassed — and then defended herself when attacked.
• Successfully appealed an expulsion for a high school student who was improperly disciplined for behavior that was a direct manifestation of her disability (ADHD).
• Won a termination hearing and obtained reinstatement and backpay for a talented and respected school principal who was wrongfully terminated for a harmless prank.
• Served on a panel of arbitrators to help resolve a contract dispute between two education-related organizations.
• Settled employment discrimination lawsuit in favor of wrongfully terminated employee, including $120,000 in back wages.
Seminars/Clinics for Elementary, Middle and High School Students
Kid-Preneur Workshop (ages 8-14; 2020)
Pre-High School Primer for MS Students (2019-2020)
Pre-College Primer for HS Students, re Academic Misconduct, Sexual Consent, Alcohol and Drugs, Sexting (2019-2020)
Sex, Texts and Bathroom Breaks: Legal Considerations You Need to Know Before Going to College (2018-2020)
The Power of Autonomy (2012)
The Importance of Making Mistakes (2013)
4 Steps to a Successful Negotiation; Hint: It Starts with Listening (2014)
The Handshake Clinic (2015)
