For 8 years Mark practiced law in Columbus, Ohio before moving to Somerset, Kentucky, where he practiced for another 15 years. By the time he left Somerset, he was able to limit his practice to criminal defense in the state and federal courts. In 2005, Mark left that very successful private practice to take a position with the Minnesota Public Defender system and in 2008 left that position to form the consulting company that he now runs. Upon moving back to Kentucky in 2008, Mark continued to run Persuasion Consultants and handle private criminal defense matters. April 1, 2010 will see the opening of the law firm of STANZIANO & CATRON, PSC which will have offices in Somerset and Columbia, Kentucky.

Mark has a Bachelor of Arts degree (Economics) from the Ohio State University (1979) and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Louisville (1982).

He is a past-president (1998-1999), and a Life Member, of the Kentucky Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (KACDL), and continues to serve on the Board of Directors. He is also a member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL). For his contributions to the practice of criminal defense law in Kentucky, Mark was awarded the Frank E. Haddad, Jr. Award, by the KACDL, in 2000. This award is the KACDL's highest honor and Mark is the organization's youngest recipient of this prestigious award.



Mark was both trial and appellate counsel in several cases that have "made law" in Kentucky.

1. Anderson v Commonwealth, Ky., 864 S.W.2d 909 (1993)
2. Stringer v Commonwealth, Ky., 956 S.W.2d 883 (1997)
3. Baker v Commonwealth, Ky. App. 11 S.W.3d 585 (2000)
4. Gosser v Commonwealth, Ky., 31 S.W.3d 897 (2000).

Read Mark Stanziano's full CV-BIO.

Bethany Catron is a 2002 graduate of Illinois State University where she received her B.A. in Science with a minor in both Political Science and History. She received her Juris Doctorate from the University of Dayton in 2005 after serving on the school's Law Review and receiving multiple awards for her scholarship and her advocacy skills on behalf of juveniles.

She moved back to south central Kentucky in 2005 and served as an Assistant Public Advocate in the Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy where, in 2006, she received a prestigious Horton Award from the Department for her creative advocacy skills at the DPA's annual training program at the Kentucky Leadership Center in Jabez, Kentucky.

After leaving the DPA she opened her own law office in Glasgow in 2007, where she has concentrated her practice in the fields of Domestic Relations, Juvenile and Criminal Defense. She has been an active member of the Kentucky Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers since 2007.

In 2010, she and long-time Kentucky criminal defense attorney Mark J. Stanziano of Somerset, established STANZIANO & CATRON, PSC a law firm which will focus on trial advocacy for Kentuckians who find themselves accused of having committed crimes ranging from Disorderly Conduct and simple Assault to DUI to felonies ranging from Flagrant Non-Support to Burglary, Robbery, Sex Offenses, and every level of homicide, including those cases of murder where the state is seeking the death penalty.

Read Bethany Catron's CV-BIO.