Mark French

Mr. French is a native West Virginian, and grew up in Putnam County, West Virginia. Mr. French attended Winfield High School, West Virginia Institute of Technology and graduated from West Virginia State College (now West Virginia State University) in 1997 with a degree in Applied Mathematics. Mr. French graduated from the West Virginia University College of Law in 2002 and began practicing in West Virginia the same year.

In 1992, Mr. French enlisted in the West Virginia Air National Guard, serving as an aircraft technician on C-130 Hercules aircraft with the 130th Airlift Wing at Yeager Airport in Charleston, West Virginia. He served in several overseas missions, including the mission to enforce the no-fly zone over southern Iraq following the fist Gulf War, and the mission to support American troops stationed in Bosnia Herzegovina. Mr. French left military service in 1999.

Mr. French began his legal career with a small law firm in Charleston, primarily representing injured West Virginians and those charged with state and federal crimes. While with this firm, Mr. French joined the Criminal Justice Act Panel for the Southern District of West Virginia, qualifying him for representation of indigent federal criminal defendants in that District. Mr. French also practices in several other areas of law, including: personal injury litigation; employment law; municipal law; family law; state and federal criminal representation, and representing victims of sexual harassment.

In 2006, Mr. French became a founding member of Criswell & French, PLLC. With the law firm of Criswell & French, PLLC, he believes he can better serve his clients and their interests with a personal touch, while still maintaining the high level of professionalism and ethics he employed before starting this firm. Mr. French is a member of the West Virginia State Bar, the American Association for Justice; the West Virginia Association for Justice, the Kanawha County Bar Association; and John A. Fields American Inns of Court; and is admitted to practice before all state and federal West Virginia Courts and the United State Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Mr. French married his wife Ashley in 2002. The couple make their home in Charleston with their two Jack Russell Terriers, George and Sissy.

Mr. French's Practice Areas Include:

  • Personal Injury
  • Auto Accidents
  • Federal and State Criminal Defense
  • Wrongful Death
  • Employment Law

Special Cases Include:

  • Murphy v. Eastern American Entergy Corp, 224 W. Va. 95, 680 S.E. 2d 110 (2009)
  • West Virginia Cemetery and Funeral Ass'n v. West Virginia Public Service Com'n, 216 W. Va. 431, 607 S.E.2d 537 (2004)
  • State v. Richardson, 214 W. Va. 410, 589 S.E.2d 552 (2003)
  • United States of America v. Gray, 491 F.3d 138 (4th Cir. 2007).