Lackawanna County DA Mark Powell Named to PA Continuing Legal Education Board

SCRANTON – Lackawanna County District Attorney Mark Powell has been appointed by the state Supreme Court to a three-year term on the Pennsylvania Continuing Legal Education Board, which oversees accreditation of all CLE programs and the awarding of credits that attorneys in the state are required to earn annually to maintain their law licenses.

“Having been active my entire career in teaching other lawyers, I am thrilled to serve on the CLE Board and help improve and enrich the education of attorneys across the Commonwealth,” Powell said. “I have always been a big believer in education to improve trial advocacy skills and the practice of law, and ultimately further the cause of justice.”

Powell has lectured extensively on many topics for numerous lawyers’ groups across the state, most recently serving as an instructor for the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association, where he sits on the Executive Committee. As a result of his educational contributions to the PDAA, he was named to the association’s Education and Training Committee in 2018 and elected to the Board of Directors of the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Institute, the educational and training arm of the PDAA, in 2020. For many years, Powell has served as an instructor for the National Institute of Trial Advocacy in Washington, D.C., and was awarded its Teaching Excellence Award in 2016. For seven years prior to being elected district attorney, Powell co-chaired the Lackawanna County Bench Bar Conference and remains active on the Lackawanna Bar Association’s Educational Committee.

Powell earned his undergraduate degree from Villanova University and his juris doctorate from the Catholic University Columbus School of Law. After practicing for several years, he went back to school and obtained a Master of Laws in Trial Advocacy from Temple University where he graduated with honors. He holds the rare distinction of being a Board-Certified Trial Specialist in both Criminal Law and Civil Law by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. He is a past President of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association and received the organization’s highest award for his “exemplary character and compassion for victims.”