Justice Mark Snauffer was raised in Fresno and attended Fresno public schools. He attended Claremont McKenna College, and received a Bachelor of Arts degree, with high honors in political science, from UC Berkeley in 1974. Justice Snauffer graduated from UCLA School of Law in 1977, where he served on the Moot Court Executive Board and the staff of the UCLA-Alaska Law Review.
He was admitted to the California Bar in 1977 and began practicing law with the Fresno firm of McCormick Barstow from 1977-1980. Justice Snauffer moved to Sacramento and practiced with the firm of Hefner, Stark & Marois from 1980-1982, when he returned to Fresno and joined the firm of Baker, Manock & Jensen, where he was an associate and shareholder until his appointment to the Fresno County Superior Court in March 2000.
Justice Snauffer specialized in civil litigation, with an emphasis on medical malpractice, legal malpractice, product liability, and general business litigation. He received an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell and has been a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates since 1992.
As a member of the Fresno County Superior Court, Justice Snauffer twice served as the Supervising Judge of the Civil Division, from 2005-2007 and 2015-2018. He also was a criminal calendar and felony trial judge, and served on the appellate division of the court. Justice Snauffer was a member of the court’s Executive Committee from 2006-2013, and 2015-2017, and was the Chair of the court’s Alternative Dispute Resolution committee from 2005-2018.
Justice Snauffer has also been active in professional and community service. He was a member of the Fresno County Young Lawyer’s Board of Directors (1983-1985), the Fresno County Bar Association Board of Directors (1991-1993), the Foundation for Clovis Schools (1993-1997), the initial class of the Leadership Fresno program (1985), and the Board of Directors of California Legal Services, Inc. (1992-1994). Justice Snauffer has served on various committees of the Center for Judicial Education and Research (CJER) and, in particular, on the Civil Law Education Committee (2002-2008; Chair, 2005-2006). Justice Snauffer was also an Adjunct Professor of Law at San Joaquin College of Law from 2003-2007, where he taught Civil Trial Practice.
On June 27, 2018, Justice Snauffer was nominated as an Associate Justice of the Court of Appeal, Fifth Appellate District, by Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr., and confirmed by the Commission on Judicial Appointments on July 26, 2018.
Justice Snauffer is married to Lynda, a retired school administrator, and they live in Fresno with their two Bichons, Jasmine and Lily.
