Gary M. Paul
Partner
Gary Paul is a partner in the firm’s West Coast practice — Waters, Kraus & Paul. Gary brings a distinguished legal portfolio to the firm, including more than three decades of trial experience in complex civil matters such as consumer and medical product liability, medical and professional malpractice, commercial and insurance litigation, and employment and labor law. After earning a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Arizona State University and a master’s in engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles, Gary worked as a space and missile engineer for a decade before pursuing a career in law. Gary earned his Juris Doctor degree from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles in 1974, and was admitted to practice by the State Bar of California the same year. A respected author, Gary has written numerous articles for legal journals. He is co-author of the California Tort Practice Guide, a five-volume law treatise published by Clark Boardman Callaghan. He also frequently presents at legal symposia and continuing legal education seminars. Gary is a member of the State Bar of California, the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, the American Board of Trial Advocates, the American Association for Justice (AAJ), formerly the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA), the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles (CAALA), and Consumer Attorneys of California (CAOC). He has served on the Board of Governors and as president of both the CAALA and CAOC, as well as in numerous other executive positions. He has served as President of the AAJ for 2011 to 2012. In 2006, he was president of the Pound Civil Justice Institute, a think tank of accomplished trial attorneys working to strengthen the practice of trial law through educational programs, publications, and research grants. He has been recognized multiple times by the CAALA and CAOC for outstanding service to the legal profession and his community, including an unprecedented second award as CAALA's Trial Lawyer of the Year in 2008. Gary has also appeared on the Thomson Reuters Southern California Super Lawyers® list nine times, from 2005 to 2013. He is a native of Springfield, Ohio.
Areas of Practice
- Asbestos Litigation
- Product Liability
- Commercial & Insurance
- Employment
- Medical & Professional Malpractice
- Pharmaceutical
- Toxic Tort
- Qui Tam Whistleblower
Bar Admissions
Education
- Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, California, J.D., 1974
- University of California at Los Angeles, California, M.S.E., 1969
- Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, B.S.E.E., 1965
Professional Associations & Memberships
- State Bar of California
- International Academy of Trial Lawyers
- American Association for Justice
- Board of Governors, 2001-present
- Executive Committee 2005-2006
- Parliamentarian, 2006
- Treasurer, 2007
- Secretary, 2008
- Vice President, 2009
- President-Elect, 2010
- President, 2011
- Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles
- Board of Governors, 1977-1979
- Treasurer, 1980
- Secretary, 1981
- Vice President, 1981-1983
- President, 1985
- Hall of Fame, 2008
- Consumer Attorneys Association of California
- Board of Governors, 1979, 1981-1983
- Vice President, 1987-1988, 1989-1991
- President-Elect, 1992
- President, 1993
- American Board of Trial Advocates
- Pound Civil Justice Institute
Honors & Awards
- AV® Preeminent™ 5.0 out of 5, Martindale-Hubbell Featured Peer Review Rated Lawyer
- Selected for inclusion on Southern California Super Lawyers list, published by Law & Politics Magazine, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013
- Recipient, Marvin Lewis Award, Consumer Attorneys of California, 2008
- Finalist, Attorney of the Year, Consumer Attorneys of California, 2008
- Recipient, Hall of Fame, Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles, 2008
- Recipient, Ted Horn Memorial Award, Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles, 2000
- Recipient, Edward I. Pollock Award, Consumer Attorneys Association of California, 1996
- Recipient, Trial Lawyer of the Year, Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles, 1981, 2008
- Eta Kappa Nu Engineering Honor Society
- St. Thomas More Law Honor Society