Professional Overview
After graduating law school in Boston and interning for U.S. Circuit Judge Bruce M. Selya, Paul joined his Boston friends in moving to the Bay Area. In 1998, he started working at well-regarded firms in San Francisco. Running his own firm since 2015, he continues to concentrate on real estate law. Paul was selected to the 2025 Northern California Super Lawyers List, where only 5% of lawyers in the state are selected based on peer recognition and professional achievement. He is also a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum®, The Top Trial Lawyers in America®. Part of his community involvement includes teaching at SFSU’s Paralegal Program, presenting on civil rights, and encouraging and doing pro bono work.
Experience
Paul has successfully represented real estate clients in court actions, jury and bench trials, and arbitration hearings. For instance, from 2012 to 2015, he represented clients in four trials:
- Defending a real estate broker against a condo buyer’s non-disclosure claims in a jury trial where court granted broker’s motion for nonsuit after buyer closed its case in chief.
- Proving homebuyers’ negligent misrepresentation claim against sellers in residential sale.
- Defending sellers against most of buyers’ construction defect claims in a multi-unit sale.
- Proving HOA members’ entitlement to relief under CC&Rs in a two-unit condo dispute.
Paul also thinks of practical and creative ways to settle cases. Sometimes cases call for direct talks between parties, attorney-to-attorney talks, or matching the right mediation service and mediator to the case. His more recent examples of problem solving through mediation or settlement talks include:
- Reaching settlements for displaced tenants bringing claims under San Francisco Rent Ordinance alleging unsafe and uninhabitable rentals.
- Bringing in surveyor and construction expert to settle lawsuit by creating construction plan for cost efficiencies to protect and maintain both properties on shared boundary line.
- Using tree and wildlife experts to create a maintenance plan to protect tree and wildlife.
- Hiring tree expert to assist in creating plan to restore views and protect health of trees.
Education
Doctor of Jurisprudence (Cum Laude) | Boston University School of Law, 1996
First-year Student – (ranked first in class) | New England School of Law, 1993-1994
Bachelor of Science – Marketing & Management | Northeastern University, 1989
Bar Memberships
- State Bars of California and Massachusetts
- Federal District Courts in California and Massachusetts
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Associations & Community Involvement
- 2025 Northern California Super Lawyers List.
- Member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum®, The Top Trial Lawyers in America®.
- Bar Association of San Francisco, Real Estate Panel, 2014 to present.
- Mock Judge, ABA Student Law Division, National Appellate Advocacy Competition
- Legal Services for Children, Pro Bono Panel, 2003 to 2010.
- Child’s Advocacy Award, Legal Services for Children, 2010.
Photo Greta Mart/KQED.
Teaching, Speaking & Publications
Teaching
Adjunct Faculty Instructor, San Francisco State University, 2018 to Present
- Investigation, Discovery, and Trial, 2019 to Present
- Legal Ethics & Communication Skills, 2019 to Present
- Real Estate Law, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2024
- Pleadings & Motions, 2018, 2019, 2025
- Legal Research & Writing, 2018
Speaking
- Justice Ginsburg’s attorney work in the 1970s at the Rights and Wrongs: A Constitution Day Conference at San Francisco State University, September 2024
- CEB, Landlord Tenant Issues: Implied Warranty of Habitability & Section 37.10B Tenant Harassment, March 2024
- CEB, Neighbor Disputes, September 2023
- CEB, Buyer & Seller Disputes, September 2023
- Civil Rights Lectures at SFSU—Justice Ginsburg and Fair Housing Act
- Real Estate 101, BASF, Legal Professionals, August 2021
- Ethics in Everyday Practice, BASF, Paralegal Conference, August 2020
- The U.S. Legal System, The Center for Global Engagement at SFSU (to visiting Judges from Nanjing, China), February 2019
- Ethics in Everyday Practice, San Francisco Paralegal Association, October 2018
Publications
Real Estate Practice Areas
Tree Law & Neighbor Disputes
- Dangerous or Nuisance Trees and Root Problems, Preserving Trees, and View Rights
- Easements, Encroachments, Access, and Boundary Lines
- Construction Projects, Nuisances, and HOA Problems
Tenant Rights and Contingency Representations
- San Francisco Rent Ordinance
- Habitability, Tenant Harassment, Discrimination, and Constructive Evictions
- Statewide Rent Cap and Just Cause Evictions
Buyer & Seller and Ownership Disputes
- Nondisclosure and Misrepresentation Claims
- Mediation Demands and Pre-litigation Mediation
- HOA Problems, Partition Actions and Historic Property Investigations