Paul focuses his trial practice on complex litigation and trial practice management, partnering with clients to create relationships that achieve better legal outcomes at an exceptional value.
He believes win-win partnerships with clients are built on collaboration, innovation, strategic action and trust—all of which ultimately bring better results and the metrics to prove them.
He has received national recognition for his innovative use of alternative financial arrangements and founded Coefficient Litigation Management® to curtail legal spend and effectively manage otherwise unpredictable litigation. His success in managing entire dockets of litigation using alternative fee arrangements have resulted in his being tapped as a featured speaker, panelist, author and expert source by organizations that include InsideCounsel, Corporate Counsel, The American Lawyer, the American Bar Association, the Association of Corporate Counsel, The Ark Law Group, Globe Law & Business, the Clear Law Institute and LexisNexis.
Paul has been named as an Acritas Star, a Client Service All-Star by BTI Consulting, and as a Litigation Trailblazer by National Law Journal for his client-first focused relationships and his leadership in alternative fee arrangements. He is the managing partner of the Denver office.
Representative Achievements
Since 2004, Paul has managed the firm’s role as Johnson Controls' (formerly Tyco International) National Counsel for Insured Litigation, leading a team of Shook lawyers in a flat-fee partnership with the company. The American Lawyer noted his representation of Tyco International in its feature story on Shook as the winner of the 2012 Product Liability Litigation Department of the Year Award. The American Bar Association Journal also featured the program in an article titled “Facing the Alternative,” which credited the trusting relationship between Tyco and Shook for much of the success of the arrangement. In addition, the Association of Corporate Counsel recognized Shook and Tyco as inaugural ACC Value Champions for “effectively driving value by cutting spending, improving predictability, and achieving better legal outcomes.”
Since 2011, Paul also has managed Shook’s role as National Product Liability Counsel for The HEICO Companies, LLC, a $2 billion privately held company with more than 40 separate operating entities in diverse economic sectors. In 2013, HEICO developed a legal services efficiency model to evaluate the value and true cost of legal services provided by its law firms. HEICO identified Paul and the Shook team as its strongest firm, achieving a 92.8 percent efficiency rating. In 2015, the Association of Corporate Counsel recognized HEICO and Shook as ACC Value Champions for their work to improve legal outcomes, reduce costs, decrease case variations, and improve the efficiency and value of legal services.
Paul and his team continue to innovate the practice of law to adapt strategic litigation management and legal project management principles to add value to other nationwide portfolio clients, providing top legal services in an aligned and transparent way to deliver on expectations for better results at a better value.
Breadth of Experience
Paul represents manufacturers, service providers and professionals in many different industries, involving a wide range of product, commercial and industrial matters. In his trial practice, he handles general liability, product liability, tort, negligence, business litigation, indemnity, contracts, commercial recovery, supply chain disputes, class action, environmental/toxic tort and patent infringement cases nationwide.
Paul has extensive experience in matters involving catastrophic accidents, fires and explosions and other casualty failures. He also has handled medical and sports injury cases, and has represented clients in cases involving wrongful death, personal injury, chemical exposure, medical monitoring and property damage.
He provides counsel to clients on portfolio litigation management, crisis management, litigation risk assessment, minimizing risk and exposure, and also advises clients regarding product safety and recalls.
Paul has counseled clients on matters in the U.S., Canada, Europe and the United Kingdom. He regularly represents clients across the nation, including the following clients and matters.
Product manufacturers, including:
- motor vehicles and components;
- heavy trucks and components;
- recreational vehicles
- heavy industrial and construction equipment;
- aircraft and aviation systems;
- emergency and rescue safety equipment, including protective gear;
- industrial, commercial and consumer building products;
- steel and plastic products for water, wastewater and fire sprinkler system applications;
- pumps, valves and actuators for industrial, commercial, and residential use;
- electrical products and components;
- thermal protective equipment, including heating cable;
- propane, natural gas and other combustible fuels and related industry products;
- fuel storage, odorization and leak detection equipment;
- oilfield products and equipment, including drilling and fracking operations;
- chemicals and chemical products, including welding products;
- consumer products; and
- animal health and performance products.
General liability matters and risk management, including:
- accidents at businesses, manufacturing facilities and customer/retail locations;
- construction, equipment and workplace accidents;
- injury, fatality and property damage;
- catastrophic fires, floods and similar losses;
- cost recovery;
- litigation risk assessment;
- product safety, reporting and recalls; and
- crisis management.
Service industries, including:
- retail operations;
- vehicle fleets;
- design and construction;
- sprinkler system design, installation, maintenance, inspection and monitoring;
- security, intrusion, and fire alarm system design, installation, maintenance, inspection and monitoring;
- hospitality, hotels, ski resorts and sporting venues;
- commercial and residential coin-operated laundry and vending operations; and
- wholesale and retail supply and service of propane, natural gas and other combustible fuel systems.
Educational institutions/Sports organizations, including:
- Governing bodies and member-based organizations; and
- Professional education institutions.
Publications and Presentations
Preparing for Partnership: A Guide to Achieving Partnership in a Law Firm, Globe Law and Business, September 2023.
ACC NCR Navigating The New Normal: Legal Considerations For Businesses in the Endemic Era, Association for Corporate Counsel North Carolina Webinar, September 2022 (with Carrie McAtee and Mike Zito).
COVID-19: Litigation Trends, Employer Vaccine Mandates, and Legislative Activity Surge, American Tort Reform Association (ATRA) and Shook, Hardy & Bacon webinar, December 2021, (with Carrie McAtee, Kristen Page and Cary Silverman).
Litigation Management in a Still Uncertain World, Globe Law and Business Ltd., November 2021
Navigating the Cannabis Conundrum, Update of the Law CLE, Kansas City, Missouri, June 13, 2019 (with Michael Barnett, Katie Gates Calderon and Lindsey Heinz).
Company Perspective: Lessons Learned, BioBreakfast: Navigating the Life Science Regulatory Pathway, Colorado BioScience Association, Boulder, Colorado, December 5, 2018.
Paul Williams, Matthias Spilker, Greg Swinehart, Doug Smith & John Beisner, Product Safety, Preventive Counsel and Managing Recalls, Corporate Disputes, Jul-Sep 2018.
Paul Williams, Chapter 7: You can do more with less - an innovative and holistic approach, Building the Law Department of Tomorrow (Alex Davies ed., Ark Group 2017).
Paul Williams, Chapter 3: The synergistic value of collaboration, in The Bigger Picture: Driving Client Value Through Collaboration(Laura Slater ed., Ark Group 2016).
Paul Williams, Chapter 13: Alternative fee arrangements – Can you ‘win-win’?, in The Lawyer's Guide to AFAs and Value Pricing (Laura Slater ed., Ark Group 2014).
Paul Williams & Sandra Stigall, 6 Tips For Responding To Notices Of Catastrophic Loss, Law360, Apr. 17, 2012.
Rachel M. Zahorsky (quoting Paul Williams), Facing the Alternative, ABA Journal, Mar. 2012.
Paul A. Williams, Charles C. Eblen & Kristina L. Burmeister, Minimizing Tort Liability With The Right Terms, Law360, Feb. 28, 2012.
Paul Williams, Wouldn't You Rather Be Partners?, Corporate Counsel, June 7, 2010.
Media
Local Law Firm Promotes Denverite, Denver Business Journal, January 29, 2021.
Multimedia
BIZLIT | TODAY, Commercial Recovery, American Lawyer Media, June 30, 2023.