Spencer G. Markle - Houston, TX

Overview

Spencer Markle was raised in Pittsburgh, Pa. In High School he was a two-sport varsity athlete. As a freshman at Westminster College, he was a member of the football team and a varsity letterman on the wrestling team. After transferring to Duquesne University, he walked on to the football team and became an immediate starter as a sophomore and started every game for the next three years at defensive back, recording five interceptions and one touchdown. He was named defensive game captain three times during his career at Duquesne, where he was also a Dean’s List scholar and member of the Beta Alpha Phi Business Honorary Fraternity.

After college, Mr. Markle attended the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, obtaining his Juris Doctorate in 1981. After graduating from Pitt, he immediately moved to Southeast Texas, where he went to work at Mills, Shirley, McMicken & Eckel, the oldest continuous law firm in the state of Texas. While at Mills, Shirley, he successfully tried his first District Court jury trial to verdict after being licensed for only three months. After two years at Mills, Shirley, Mr Markle joined the Houston litigation firm of Dunn, Kacal, Adams, Livingston, Pappas & Law, led by former State Bar President, Bob Dunn. At age 31, he became the youngest equity partner in that firm’s history.

In 1988, Spencer co-founded the firm of Livingston & Markle, which later became Markle, Ramos & Zito. After 14 years as the managing partner of that firm; he left to become the partner in charge of the Houston office of the Dallas firm, Morgan & Weisbrod, LLP.

In 2007, Mr. Markle re-established his own firm with the vision of practicing true civil trial law, regularly handling cases on both sides of the docket. As a result, he is one of the few trial lawyers in Texas to have the breadth of experience that includes achieving over 70 zero jury verdicts, while representing defendants in civil actions and obtaining five verdicts of over $1 million for plaintiff clients.

In 2006, Mr. Markle was invited to join the nation’s most prestigious trial lawyer organization, the American Board of Trial Advocates, as an “Advocate” level member. Since then, he has risen in rank to the level of “Diplomate”, an honor shared by less than 30 lawyers in the entire state of Texas.

Spencer Markle became Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial law in only his fifth year of practice; Board Certified in Civil Trial Law, the following year and then two years later Board Certified in Civil Trial Advocacy by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. He has been rated “AV” (the highest rating possible) by Martindale Hubbell for over thirty years. As of the end of 2022, Mr. Markle has tried over 125 cases to juries in District Courts in twenty-three separate counties in every corner of Texas.

A frequent author and lecturer at TexasBar CLE programs, in 2014 Mr. Markle wrote the Texas LiquorLiability Practice Manual, the first and only book of its kind in the state; now in its 5^th Edition ©ALM Media (2020). Thomson Reuters has named Spencer a “Texas SuperLawyer” each and every year from 2003 to the present. He is also a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum