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Mark Pryor

Partner

I've been practicing law here in Texas for twenty years, but have managed to hang onto the English accent I was born with! Raised on a farm just outside London, my first career was as a journalist (covering mostly police and crime stories) for about a decade before turning to the law.

Reversing my mother's footsteps, I moved to America in 1995 and attended UNC-Chapel Hill, where I graduated with highest honors from their journalism school. From there, I traded light blue for dark and attended Duke University School of Law, graduating cum laude.

A few years working commercial litigation cases with a big firm in Dallas convinced me that I needed to return to my lifelong interest in all things criminal. I was hired by the Travis County District Attorney's Office in 2006 and in the intervening years I've handled just about every type of criminal case there is. That includes being lead prosecutor on a dozen murder cases (one of them a capital murder case) and trying dozens of felony cases before a jury. One of my specialties is juvenile criminal law, having handled thousands of cases as a prosecutor over a period of five years in that division of the office, from Class B misdemeanors to capital murder and everything in between.

Academic and legal achievements aside, if my name is familiar to you it's likely because I am the author of a series of mystery novels! The first of those, The Bookseller, was published in 2012 and made Oprah.com's mystery list. Since then, I've published ten novels, and am very excited about a new series starting in August, published by Minotaur/St. Martin's.

EDUCATION

  • Stradbroke College of Journalism, Sheffield, England
  • UNC-Chapel Hill, NC - BA in Journalism and Mass Communication, highest honors
  • Duke University School of Law - JD, cum laude

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS

  • Austin Bar Association

PROFESSIONAL ADMISSIONS

  • Northern District of Texas
  • Western District of Texas

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

  • Vinson & Elkins, Dallas (2002-2006)
  • Travis County District Attorney's Office (2006-2007)
  • DuBois, Campbell & Bryant (2007-2009)
  • Travis County District Attorney's Office (2009-2022)

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

  • Board of Directors, Mystery Writers of America 2018 - Present

Novelist

I spend a lot of my time working on whichever novel is in progress and, fortunately, get to do a lot of traveling for my books, which I love. Whether it's book signings in Scottsdale or research in Paris, I love it all. 

When not working on my books, I try and spend as much time as I can with my family, especially since they will soon all be off to college. I'll have my wife and two dogs to keep me company once they go, and we're all very close so I'm sure there will be lots of visits back and forth from the kids' respective colleges.

Client Reviews

  • I am convinced that this is the best criminal defense team in Austin and probably in all of Texas.

    J.H.
  • "A good law firm made my son feel comfortable after he was charged."
    Chris J.
  • "I would highly recommend Mr. Connelly."
    Kelly
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