Paul is the founder of our firm and has been in practice since 1958. His litigation focus for many years has been mass torts. Indeed, he organized the first mass tort drug case, involving a cholesterol-lowering drug known as MER/29.
Over the years he has held leadership and educational roles in over 20 drug and devices mass torts including:
- In re: NuvaRing Products Liability Litigation, MD-1964;
- In re: Ephedra Products Liability Litigation, MD 1598;
- In re: Copley Pharmaceutical, Inc. “Albuterol” Products Liability Litigation., MD-1013;
- In Re: Showa Denko K.K. L-tryptophan Products Liability Litigation Action, MD-865;
- In Re: Diet Drugs (Phentermine/Fenfluramine/Dexfenfluramine) Products Liability Litigation, MD-1203;
- In re: Vioxx Products Liability Litigation, MD-1657;
- In Re: Bextra And Celebrex Marketing Sales Practices And Product Liability Litigation, MD-1699.
Leadership roles in these mass torts have involved setting the strategy of the litigation and moving the cases to resolution by trial or settlement. He has handled depositions of company witnesses and defense experts in many of these mass tort cases. Further, he has represented bellwether clients in many of these same cases, including NuvaRing and Yaz/Yasmin.
Recent Cases and Work
Recently Paul has been handling a variety of new mass torts. One of the most productive involved patients who were injured when their doctors utilized the da Vinci robot surgery machine. His work involved exposing a flaw in the machine that causes burns, which often went undetected during surgery. He has been involved with the start of other new litigations, including currently the Benicar litigation, which is described elsewhere on this website.
Paul has also been active recently as assistant counsel in medical malpractice cases in the plaintiff’s cases in North Carolina. This includes a major case involving obstetrical malpractice at Duke University Medical Center.
Over the years Paul has been active in many bar associations. He formerly was a national officer of the America Association for Justice (AAJ), and has held positions in the American Bar Association, the New York Bar Association and the New York State Trial Lawyers Association. He is proud to have been chosen for many years by the latter group as the annual lecturer on developments in product liability litigation in New York, which also involves the assignment of outlining the key decisions.
Publications
He is the author of the two-volume work, “Litigating Mass Tort Cases” published by AAJ in conjunction with Thomson Reuters. He keeps it up to date annually. He also continues to author papers on this subject, for the ABA mass tort committee and recently authored “Looking Back at the First Mass Tort Drug Case,” Trial Magazine, Aug. 2014, p. 26.
Paul in the past taught at such law schools as Harvard, Stanford, Fordham, and Rutgers. He currently serves on the board of overseers of the Institute on Civil Justice of the RAND Institute, Santa Monica, CA. He has been on several commissions drawing new laws for the American Law Institute, as well.
Education
- Harvard University Law School, Cambridge, Massachusetts
- LL.B. cum laude – 1958
- Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio
- A.B. – 1955
- Phi Beta Kappa
- Major: History
Classes/Seminars
- Lecturer on Law, Rutgers Law School, 1966 – 1972
- Lecturer on Law, Harvard Law School, 1988 – 1989
- Adjunct Associate Professor, Fordham Law School, 1972 – 1976
- Overseer, RAND Institute for Civil Justice, 1986 – Present
- Annual Lecturer on Product Liability, New York State Trial Lawyers Association
Bar Admissions
- New York, 1965
- Massachusetts, 1960
- District of Columbia, 1958
- U.S. Federal Court, 1965
Honors & Awards
- SuperLawyer, 2011 – 2014
Professional Associations & Memberships
- Westchester County Bar Association, Member
- New York State Bar Association, Chairman, Committee on Tort Reparations, 1986 – 1989
- New York State Bar Association, Chairman, Special Committee on Medical Malpractice, 1990 – Present
- American Bar Association, Chairman, Manufacturers’ Liability Committee, 1975 – 1980
- American Bar Association, Member of Council, 1980 – 1983
- American Law Institute, Advisor, Restatement of Torts, Product Liability
- American Law Institute, Member, Executive Committee, 1993
- New York State Trial Lawyers Association, Member
- American Association for Justice, Former National Officer
- Trial Lawyers For Public Justice, Founder
- American Association for Justice, National Secretary, 1971 – 1972
- Task Force on Judicial & Regulatory Decision Making, Carnegie Commission on Science, Technology and Government, Member, 1989 – 1993
- City of Rye, Planning Commission, New York, Chairman, 1990 – 1992
- American Bar Association Commission on Mass Torts, Member, 1987 – 1990
