Mark V. Oddo
Mark graduated with honors from St. Joseph’s University, after which he entered the Delaware Law School of Widener University, graduating with a degree of Juris Doctor in 1982. He was then admitted to the bars of New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Having grown up in the lower end of Camden County, and having many local contacts, Mark was invited immediately after law school to join the law firm headed by then long-time senator, Joseph Maressa. He became a partner there within less than five years. The firm became known as Maressa Goldstein Patterson Drinkwater & Oddo. Mark remained with the firm for over 22 years. He represented business, institutional and individual clients in litigation, various transactions and other matters. For a time he represented clients filing bankruptcy, and savings institutions, handling foreclosure and various creditors’ rights. Before long, however, Mark realized that he preferred representing the consumer in personal injury, municipal court, criminal and other related matters, as well as small business representation; and he has concentrated his practice in these areas ever since.
Mark has completed numerous jury trials and has participated in a number of appeals over the years plus, literally, thousands of municipal court appearances as both defense and municipal prosecutor. He has now brought that considerable experience here to the firm where, as a partner, he continues to represent injured and aggrieved clients against, primarily, the insurance industry, corporations and big business.
Public service and giving back to the community and this profession have always been at Mark’s core – prompting involvement from early on in his career in various service organizations, including the Lion’s Club International, Knights of Columbus, Sons of Italy, various southern New Jersey business organizations, Camden County Hero Scholarship fund, amongst others. He maintains active membership with the St. Joseph’s University Law Alumni, as well as the Widener University School of Law Alumni Association.
Mark currently serves as a trustee on the board of the Shamong Township Foundation for Educational Excellence, raising significant funds by sponsoring very specific, creative and innovative elementary and middle school projects and programs, which the Board of Education is unable to fund.
For many years Mark has coached, and continues to coach, little league baseball and softball, recreational basketball and travel soccer.
Mark is admitted to practice in the state courts of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and in the Third Circuit Federal District Courts for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the District of New Jersey, as well as the United States Supreme Court.
His professional memberships have included: the New Jersey State Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, the New Jersey Association for Justice and the New Jersey Municipal Prosecutors Association, but his true passion, in terms of professional service, is his membership of the Camden County Bar Association and the Camden County Bar Foundation (which has spanned over two decades). Mark has also served on dozens of committees including the Judicial and Prosecutorial Appointments Committee and the Public Benefits Committee, the Municipal Court Committee and also chairman of the Law Day Committee, the Court House Facilities Committee, the Charity Golf Fundraising Committee, and many others. In 2005, Mark was elected as president of the Camden County Bar Association. He then became Foundation president in 2007, becoming the fifth partner of the DuBois firm to hold these offices. In 2013, Mark received the 2012 Hon. Peter J. Devine, Jr. Award, the most prestigious honor bestowed by the Camden County Bar Association, in recognition of his distinguished service to the Association and its members.
He has been honored by various Who’s Who publications including the Philadelphia Business Journal, and he has been featured in a number of publications to include South Jersey magazine. He has also been interviewed on television, including the talk show, Legal Line and also programs on Garden State cable.
In his obviously limited spare time, Mark enjoys playing sports and hanging out at the beach with his wife, Susan, [who is also an attorney] and his two children.