Mark Geragos - Background

Background

Geragos was born in Los Angeles, California. He attended high school at Flintridge Preparatory School in La Canada, CA., and graduated with honors. He received his bachelor's degree from Haverford College in 1979 and his Juris Doctor (J.D.) from Loyola Law School in 1982. He was admitted to the State Bar of California in 1983. Currently, Geragos is the managing partner at The Law Offices of Geragos and Geragos, a 13-person law firm in Los Angeles. Geragos handles criminal defense and civil litigation.

An Armenian-American, Geragos maintains his close relationship with the Armenian community. He has earned praise from the Armenian National Committee of America He serves on the Advisory Committee of Birthright Armenia, as the chairman of Armenian Bone Marrow Donor Registry, and also is involved with the Armenian religious community. He has been a member of the Armenia Fund International Board of Trustees since 2006.

Geragos was one of the lead lawyers in a pair of groundbreaking federal class action lawsuits against New York Life Insurance and AXA for insurance policies issued in the early 20th century during the time of the Armenian Genocide of more than 1.5 million Armenians. The two cases settled for over $37.5 million in 2004 and 2005. The settlement was in 2009 overturned by the US Federal Court, ruling that "No Armenian American can sue foreign insurance companies for unpaid claims because the U.S. government doesn't legally recognize that an Armenian genocide occurred."

Geragos represented actor Keith Carradine, actress Hayley DuMond, attorney Stephen Kolodny, designer Donna Dubrow and Lee DuMond in a class-action suit following private eye Anthony Pellicano's illegal wiretapping conspiracy and subsequent conviction.