When there is a battle, stakes are high, and tough challenges are complex, Paul is in his element and ready with the shield—fearlessly defending clients in catastrophic, mass casualty events and high-stakes product litigation with a skillset that exceeds his years of practice.
As part of his extensive products and toxic tort practice, Paul handles a diverse range of products cases from chemical exposure and contamination to heavy machinery and lithium-ion battery fires. His California-based practice includes handling individual cases as well as large, high-risk matters arising from mass casualty injury and death events. He regularly and directly manages state and nationwide coordinated, related, and multidistrict dockets of toxic tort litigation with exposure claims related to chemicals such as PFAS and minerals such as asbestos. Paul has also handled cases involving glyphosate and orally ingested products/supplements.
In Los Angeles County, Paul regularly handles cases that fall under California’s Section 36, which provides plaintiffs with various means to rapidly move complex cases to trial within four months. Although such motions are routinely filed by plaintiffs and granted, Paul’s dogged refusal to concede have led to courts ruling in his favor, defeating Section 36 motions and leading to favorable resolution for firm clients.
Paul also handles products liability matters for multi-national franchisor corporations. He understands the complex underlying business relationships of companies while also understanding the potential liability of a complicated component or end-product. He is especially enthusiastic about cases that require him to dive into new products, and he aims to convey clients’ missions to a jury. Paul also enjoys working closely with our clients to synthesize the research and development needed to make products safe so that innovation can flourish.
A member of the firm’s Mass Tort & Product Liability team, Paul was the first associate to join the Los Angeles office after its opening. This situation presented an unusual opportunity to support partners across various teams with a broad array of litigation. Even early in his practice, Paul cut his teeth by representing both plaintiffs and defendants in everything from breach of contract, real estate, and premises cases to complex credit lending and corporate ownership disputes. He quickly learned transferable skills and a strategic overview of how best to work up and resolve or push different types of cases to trial. Paul continues to spread his practice between product liability and a variety of complex commercial litigation, and clients appreciate his ability to assist with multiple matters.
Paul handles matters in state court, federal court, and arbitration. He has spent extensive time in the courtroom from the beginning of his career, thriving on litigation strategy, trial, and oral argument. With a passion for chewing on difficult problems and finding backdoor solutions, Paul is always thinking about the challenges of clients’ cases.
Outside of the courtroom, Paul is an active member of the firm. He is a frequent mentor and a member of firm committees, and he enjoys guiding new associates so they can realize their full potential. He is a regular mentor of our first-year associates, with his favorite phrase being, “Get comfortable being uncomfortable; that mindset is the best way to grow.”
Before joining the firm, Paul interned as a member of the White House Counsel’s Office, where he participated in the resolution of various policy issues and confronted constitutional questions on the separation of executive and congressional power. Paul assisted with executive branch ethics codes as well as legal research concerning executive orders and the First and Fourteenth Amendments. He also assisted in preparing federal judicial nominees at all appellate levels for congressional hearings.