WKP partner Gary M. Paul will be installed as vice-president of the American Association for Justice during the AAJ’s annual convention in San Francisco. Mr. Paul currently serves as an officer of the AAJ as secretary. He will begin a one-year term as vice-president on July 29.


Mr. Paul is among the Southern California bar’s most distinguished and well-recognized plaintiff attorneys. He was named “Trial Lawyer of the Year”  by the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles (CAALA)  in both 1981 and 2008; received the Edward I. Pollock Award in 1996 for “dedication, efforts, and effectiveness” in consumer matters; and has been named four times to the Southern California Super Lawyers® list. He has served as president of both CAALA, CAOC, and Pound Civil Justice Institute, and is an elected fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers.  He is also a respected lecturer and author.

Since joining Waters & Kraus in 2006, Mr. Paul has been instrumental in several of the firm’s most noteworthy asbestos-mesothelioma cases. This includes Cundiff v. Alfa Laval, a recent  post-Taylor verdict that resulted in an award of $12.0 million to a retired U.S. Navy machinist. After the official swearing in of the 2009-2010 officers on the floor of the AAJ convention, Mr. Paul and the newly elected president, Anthony Tarricone, will be feted at a by-invitation-only event for members of AAJ’s Leaders Forum and Endowment. This exclusive dinner reception will be held at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), which is currently featuring a special exhibit of works by Georgia O’Keefe and Ansel Adams.


About the American Association for Justice (AAJ)

The American Association for Justice promotes a fair and effective justice system and supports the work of attorneys to ensure that any person who is injured by the misconduct or negligence of others can obtain justice in America’s courtrooms, even when taking on the most powerful interests. Formerly known as the American Trial Lawyers Association (ATLA), AAJ was founded in 1946, and today represents the world’s largest trial bar as a broad-based, international coalition of attorneys, law professors, paralegals, and law students.

About Waters Kraus & Paul

Waters Kraus & Paul is the West Coast practice of Waters & Kraus, LLP — a nationally recognized plaintiffs’ firm concentrating on complex product liability and personal injury/wrongful death cases, particularly asbestos-mesothelioma. In addition to toxic tort litigation, the firm’s diverse practice includes pharmaceutical product liability, negligence, elder financial abuse, and consumer product liability, as well as qui tam (whistleblower) and commercial litigation. With offices in California, Texas, and Maryland, Waters & Kraus has litigated cases in jurisdictions across the United States on behalf of individuals from all 50 states, as well as foreign governments.