Mark A. Moore Receives Business Law Section's 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award

• Publication year: 2021
• Author: By Paul J. Pascuzzi*

Mark A. Moore Receives Business Law Section's 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award

By Paul J. Pascuzzi*

Mark A. Moore

The Business Law Section is pleased to announce that Mark A. Moore has been selected to receive the Business Law Section's 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award. This prestigious award is given annually to a California lawyer "who over an extended period has made significant contributions to the Business Law Section or to business law generally in the State of California and who has achieved high status in the legal community." Mark joins an impressive list of California business attorneys and legal scholars who have received this award. If you are looking for career inspiration, scroll over to the Business Law Section's website to review the list of luminaries who have received this award. For those of us who know Mark, it is no surprise that he joins that honorable list.

Mark's work in consumer financial services was at the cutting edge of what in essence was a brand new, and today very powerful, sector of the United States economy. Mark's early work supported banks and other financial service providers as they sought to comply with consumer-facing disclosure and other consumer protection requirements, particularly for their credit and debit card programs. In the early 2000s, Mark's practice expanded to include additional innovations in payment platforms for co-operative consumption. He soon found himself focused on electronic environments and advocating the view that the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (E-Sign) served as an enabling statute rather than as a limiting mandate. Mark's clientele grew to include fintech disruptors in Silicon Valley who faced novel and unexplored 50-state money transmitter and other licensing mandates. While advising providers of pre-paid card and electronic settlement services, Mark was heavily involved with the next generational wave of advances. Mark's career is replete with experience working on first-impression legal and business issues. Mark's contributions to the California legal community and the Business Law Section stand out, making him an easy and unanimous choice for the 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award.

Mark was born in Fairfield, California. He is the oldest of three children. He has two younger sisters, Carolyn and Laura. His son, Russell Jacobie, lives in Fresno, and his granddaughter, Jaida Jacobie, lives in Clovis. Mark says that the COVID pandemic is his one complaint, because it has resulted in less time in-person with the family.

Mark spent most of his childhood in the San Fernando Valley back when the orange groves were still there. Mark's father, Bill, served in the United States Air Force during the Korean War and worked with specialty radar. After the Air Force, Bill worked in the emerging area of mobile phone systems at a time when law enforcement and first responders were the only ones using mobile phones. His father's fascination with, and passion for, developing technology was passed along to Mark and, as you will see as you read on, planted a seed for how Mark's legal career developed.

Mark's mother, Betty Lou, also had a big influence on him. Betty Lou was a strong woman who believed in self-reliance and had clear lines about what was right and wrong. She was one of the first women to graduate from Pierce Community College in Southern California, having earned an Associate degree in Business. Mark's mother raised him to be kind to others, to always help others, and to abide by the Golden Rule ("Do unto...