About
Mark C. Blair: Seattle Civil Protection Order, Title IX, and Criminal Defense Attorney
Mark C. Blair is a Seattle attorney and co-founder of Blair Kim Moeller, PLLC, which he established with Sara Kim in 2005. He represents clients in civil protection order hearings, Title IX and student discipline proceedings, and criminal cases in the superior, district, and municipal courts of King, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties. A former deputy prosecuting attorney in King, Yakima, and Thurston Counties, he has been licensed to practice law in Washington since 1995 and has practiced criminal defense since 2000.
He also serves as a judge pro tem in Lakewood Municipal Court, a position he has held since 2015, and has completed King County District Court's three-day judge pro tem certification, which requires sponsorship by a sitting judge. Mark Blair considers his pro tem service one of his most meaningful professional recognitions because it reflects confidence in his judgment, preparation, and temperament.
- Civil protection orders are the largest part of his practice. He typically handles four or five protection order hearings in an active week, for both petitioners and respondents.
- He represents students in Title IX and student conduct proceedings at Washington colleges and universities, and families in K-12 school discipline matters.
- He appears most often in King County Superior Court and King County District Court, and regularly in Snohomish and Pierce County courts.
- He has been selected to Super Lawyers (2022–2025), holds Martindale-Hubbell's AV Preeminent peer review rating, and has a 10.0 Superb rating on Avvo.
What Does Sitting on the Bench Teach an Advocate?
A judge pro tem is a temporary judge who decides cases on the facts presented and the governing law. The role requires a current command of the statutes, case law, and court rules, and a strict commitment to impartiality.
The value to a client lies in what the role reveals. Deciding cases regularly shows which evidence actually supports a well-reasoned ruling, what clarifies an issue, what undermines a witness's credibility, and what moves a court toward one outcome rather than another. Most advocates can only infer this from counsel table. Mark Blair has seen it from the bench.
He brings that perspective to his own hearings, presenting argument and evidence in the form a judge can act on rather than the form that feels most forceful to argue.
How Protection Orders, Title IX, and Criminal Cases Intersect
Mark Blair's practice spans three areas that appear separate on a website but often overlap in a client's life. A divorce can arrive with a domestic violence allegation, a pending criminal charge, and a protection order petition. A Title IX complaint is often based on an allegation of sexual assault, with a criminal investigation and a protection order proceeding running alongside it. Handling all three allows him to anticipate how a statement or decision in one proceeding can affect the others.
Civil Protection Orders
Civil protection order hearings account for the largest share of Mark Blair's practice. He represents both the person seeking an order and the person responding to one, in all six types of civil protection order under RCW 7.105.100: domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, vulnerable adult, extreme risk, and anti-harassment protection orders. He also handles renewal and modification hearings. These hearings move quickly, turn heavily on sworn declarations, and carry consequences beyond contact restrictions, including firearm surrender, housing, and parenting schedules.
Title IX and Student Discipline
Mark Blair represents students in Title IX investigations and hearings at Washington colleges and universities, and families in K-12 school discipline matters. The firm represents students at institutions across the state, including the University of Washington, Washington State University, Central Washington University, Eastern Washington University, and Pacific Lutheran University.
These are institutional proceedings, not court cases. They follow each institution's own notice rules, hearing format, and standard of proof, and an adverse finding can follow a student into graduate admissions and professional licensing long after the underlying allegation is resolved. Mark Blair has taken these matters through contested live hearings, including cross-examination, rather than resolving them only at the investigation stage.
Criminal Defense
Mark Blair leads the firm's criminal defense practice, which covers DUI, assault, domestic violence charges, harassment, protection order and no-contact order violations, theft, and drug offenses. His experience as a prosecutor in three counties informs how he evaluates a charging decision, because the questions a prosecutor's office asks before filing are the same questions that later determine what a case is worth.
His felony trial experience includes serving as co-counsel in a first degree murder trial in King County Superior Court in which the jury returned a not guilty verdict after phone records already contained in the State's own exhibits placed his client ten blocks from the scene. He has also tried cases charging third degree rape; first, second, and third degree assault; and felony fraud.
His other felony representations include burglary, robbery, first and second degree theft, theft of a motor vehicle, vehicular homicide, vehicular assault, felony harassment, arson, embezzlement, and indecent liberties.
What Happens in the First 48 Hours of a New Case?
Mark Blair begins by identifying the client's immediate deadlines, restrictions, and risks, such as an upcoming protection order hearing, conditions of release, or a school's response deadline. In a criminal case, he obtains and reviews the discovery, meaning the evidence the prosecution is relying on, before offering an assessment of the evidence, likely motions, and possible outcomes.
The meeting that follows covers strategy and the sequence of hearings ahead: arraignment, the pretrial or omnibus hearing, motions, and trial. It also covers realistic resolutions, which in a criminal case can include dismissal, a plea to a reduced charge, or trial, and what each would require. Clients leave knowing what happens next and what their attorney will be doing at each stage.
What Should a Client Expect?
Mark Blair's priorities are thorough case preparation, timely communication, and making sure each client understands the process well enough to follow it. He is also candid about its limits. Hiring an attorney does not guarantee a particular outcome, and he would rather set an accurate expectation at the start than a comfortable one.
"If you want an attorney to tell you what you want to hear, I am not that guy. I am here to tell you what you need to know."
The cases that motivate him most are those in which a client has been genuinely wronged: charged with a crime they did not commit, named in a protection order petition built on false allegations, or accused of a Title IX violation that did not happen. Much of this work involves limiting consequences that cannot be erased entirely, but false or unsupported allegations are the ones he is most determined to contest.
Education, Bar Admissions, and Recognition
- J.D., cum laude, Seattle University School of Law, 1995; American Jurisprudence Award for excellence in criminal law
- M.A., Political Science, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1991
- B.A., University of Northern Colorado, 1988
- Admitted to practice in Washington (1995, WSBA No. 25205) and Oregon (2017)
- Deputy Prosecuting Attorney, King County (1995–1996), Yakima County (1996–1997), and Thurston County (1997)
- Co-founder, Blair Kim Moeller, PLLC (2005)
- Judge Pro Tem, Lakewood Municipal Court (2015–present)
- Memberships: Washington State Bar Association, King County Bar Association, Washington Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Washington Defender Association, Federal Bar Association of the Western District of Washington, and National College for DUI Defense
- Recognition: Super Lawyers (2022–2025); AV Preeminent peer review rating, Martindale-Hubbell; 10.0 Superb rating and Clients' Choice Awards, Avvo
How He Came to the Law
Mark Blair was born in what was then West Germany, where his father was serving as a U.S. Army captain, and spent much of his childhood outside the United States, graduating from high school on Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands. He earned his bachelor's degree at the University of Northern Colorado and a master's degree in political science at the University of Hawaii before coming to Washington to attend law school at Seattle University.
His father was an attorney who completed law school on the GI Bill while supporting a growing family, and Mark Blair credits that example with much of what he understands about focus and sustained effort. A conviction that specific wrongs ought to be answered did the rest. Outside the practice, he and his wife, family law attorney Sara Kim, travel with their two sons whenever the calendar allows.
Common Questions About Working With Mark Blair
What Kinds of Cases Does Mark Blair Handle?
Three, in order of volume: civil protection orders, Title IX and student conduct proceedings, and criminal defense. A typical week includes four or five protection order hearings, several criminal pretrial hearings, and work on one or two Title IX or school discipline matters.
Is Mark Blair a Former Prosecutor?
Yes. He served as a deputy prosecuting attorney in King, Yakima, and Thurston Counties before moving to defense work, and he now also serves as a judge pro tem in Lakewood Municipal Court.
Does Mark Blair Handle Felony Cases?
Yes. In addition to DUI and misdemeanor defense, he has tried felony cases including first degree murder as co-counsel, third degree rape, first, second, and third degree assault, and felony fraud, and has represented clients charged with robbery, burglary, arson, vehicular homicide, indecent liberties, and other felonies.
Which Courts Does He Appear In Most Often?
King County Superior Court and King County District Court, which serve the firm's Seattle and Bellevue offices. He also appears regularly in Snohomish and Pierce County courts and has handled matters in courts across Washington.
Does He Represent Both Sides in Protection Order Cases?
Yes. He represents petitioners seeking protection orders and respondents who have been served with them. Handling both sides across many hearings shows which declarations hold up and which fall apart under questioning.
What if the Case Also Involves a Divorce or Parenting Plan?
Mark Blair works alongside Sara Kim, who handles the firm's family law matters, so that a protection order, a criminal charge, and a divorce or parenting plan dispute can be coordinated within one firm.
Mark Blair represents clients in protection order, Title IX, school discipline, and criminal matters throughout King, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties from Blair Kim Moeller's offices at 215 NE 40th Street, Suite C-3, Seattle, and 14205 SE 36th Street, Suite 100, Bellevue. Call (206) 622-6562 or schedule a consultation.
