Member
Charleston, WV
office 304.340.3874
mobile 304.550.6490
Mr. Paul is leader of the firm's Battle Group, a practice group dedicated to handling high-risk matters heading to trial. His primary areas of practice are trial work, litigation and appellate practice focusing on complex environmental toxic tort litigation, class actions, medical monitoring, commercial and employment litigation.

Education

  • Bridgewater College of Virginia, B.A. in Philosophy and Religion, cum laude, 1987
  • University of Richmond, T. C. Williams School of Law, J.D., 1990

Experience

  • Trying numerous cases to verdict and litigating hundreds of disputes, including environmental, toxic tort, and personal injury claims, unfair trade practices, deliberate intent injury claims, and employment-related jury, bench and administrative trials
  • One of four lawyers in the nation selected to serve on a "litigation strike force" for an international Fortune 100 company
  • Serving as co-chair and outside counsel liaison for E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company's "in-house" tort practice group
  • Often retained as substitute trial counsel in high risk matters
  • Arguing several class action certification motions, including significant groundwater contamination actions
  • Counsel at a number of "Daubert" hearings challenging a variety of experts
  • Arguing numerous cases before various state and federal appellate courts, including an en banc panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

Distinctions

  • AV® Preeminent™ Peer-Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell
  • Trial Law Institute
  • Barrister, Order of Justicia and Order of Certus
  • Recognized by Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business in Commercial Litigation
  • Recognized by West Virginia Super Lawyers
  • Named the Best Lawyers® "Lawyer of the Year" for Litigation - Environmental Law in Charleston, West Virginia for 2022
  • Nominated by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America in the areas of Commercial Litigation, Litigation - Environmental, Litigation - Labor & Employment, Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions - Defendants and Personal Injury Litigation - Defendants
  • Former Chairman and Chief Judge, City of Charleston Civil Service Commission
  • Diversity Law Institute

Admissions

  • West Virginia Bar
  • Kentucky Bar
  • Arizona Bar
  • West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals
  • Supreme Court of Kentucky
  • United States Supreme Court
  • United States District Courts for the Northern and Southern Districts of West Virginia
  • United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky
  • United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth and Sixth Circuits

Memberships

  • Senior Fellow, Litigation Counsel of America, The Trial Lawyer Honorary Society
  • American Bar Association, Section of Litigation, Labor and Employment Law Section, and a member of the following committees:
    • Product Liability (Former Chair of the Chemical & Industrial Products Sub-Committee)
    • Corporate Counsel
    • Toxic Torts and Environmental Law
  • International Association of Defense Counsel, Faculty, Trial Academy, 2012

Publications & Presentations

  • Co-Author, "The Negotiation Class Certification: Should Courts Encourage or Exterminate Innovation?" Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Law Journal, American Bar Association, Spring 2021
  • Speaker, Litigation Counsel of America 2012 Spring Conference & Induction of Fellows, Santa Barbara, California, May 2012
  • Speaker, "Trying the Unwinnable Case," Litigation Counsel of America, Renaissance Symposium II, Watercolor, Florida, March 25, 2011
  • Spoken and published on the trial of complex toxic torts and the aggressive management of discovery in chemical product liability claims, including panels such as "Discovering the New Frontier - Discovery Management in the Age of New Science and New Legal Theories"; "We Win, You Lose - A Critical Look at Case Themes"; and "The Advantages and Disadvantages of Trying a Mass Tort or Class Action in Stages"
  • Program Chair and organizer of ABA Workshop: 2006 "Contamination Examination - A Regional CLE Workshop on the Changing Face of Chemical Product Liability Claims"; 2007 "The Chemical Products Liability Trial: Winning at Every Stage"; and 2008 "Mass, Class or Pass - Making Strategic Decisions in the Big Chemical Case"
  • Spoken and published internationally on Sarbanes-Oxley litigation, including a 2003 engagement in London, England
  • "Client Service in the Twenty-First Century - Finding Profits in Partnering," Texas State Bar Lawyer Boot Camp, 2003