In Memorium:

Mark Shields

Partner and Family Law Attorney, 1996 – 2025

The entire team at Gillespie, Shields, & Taylor are forever grateful for having had Mark Shields as our partner, attorney, and most importantly, our caring friend.

His tireless devotion to helping individuals and families in Arizona receive the legal advocacy they deserve has impacted thousands of lives for the better.

His integrity, courage, patience, kindness, and self-sacrificing dedication to others will be eternally missed, but never forgotten.

“Family law should be handled by someone who cares.”

A native of Arizona with roots that go back four generations, Mark was also a third-generation Arizona lawyer. He graduated from Washington High School in Phoenix and graduated from Brigham Young University in 1993 with a degree in sociology.

Before earning his bachelor’s degree, Mark spent two years in Portugal as a missionary for his church and working with people of varied backgrounds, ethnicities, and cultures. The qualities he developed during this time served him throughout his life, including as a devoted husband of 25 years and loving father of five daughters.

After working for over a year while his wife finished up her degree, Mark entered the J. Reuben Clark Law School, where he graduated in 1997. Having a law school class that ranked seventh in the nation for average GPA and LSAT scores, Mark was immediately initiated into a highly competitive environment.

Prior to his last year of law school, Mark Shields began with Gillespie, Shields & Taylor back when it was Gillespie & Associates in 1996. 

From that time onward, Mark extensively practiced in the areas of family law and appeals, along with acquiring substantial experience in civil litigation, juvenile law, and other related fields.

Mark was happy to report that his approach to practicing law changed remarkably little during the recessions endured over the course of his career — a testament to both his profound knowledge of the law, but also his dedication to using the law to truly help others and provide them with real value. 

Mark consistently sought to provide his clients the best service for the most accessible price, whether the case involved millions of dollars or no money at all.

His featured story in Attorney At Law Magazine said it best about Mark:

“Great lawyers are rare, great people are rare, but great lawyers who are great people are especially rare.”

Mark was just such an individual: a great lawyer, and an even greater human being.