Neufeld, Marks & Gralnek :: Paul S. Marks

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Timothy L. Neufeld
Paul S. Marks
Gaelle H. Gralnek
Allen E. Rennett
Yuriko Mary Shikai
Eva Wong
Erin E. Brady

Paul S. Marks

Email: pmarks@neufeldmarks.com

Practice Areas: Civil and commercial litigation

College: Brown University, A.B., 1983

Law School: University of Southern California Law Center, J.D., 1988

Membership: Los Angeles County Bar Association; American Bar Association; State Bar of California.

Admissions: 1988, California; U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth and Federal Circuits; U.S. District Court, Central, Eastern, Northern and Southern Districts of California.

Born: Providence, Rhode Island

Paul Marks has practiced civil and commercial litigation in California for over twenty years. Mr. Marks has served as "first chair" trial counsel in over thirty cases that have reached verdict, about half of them being jury trials.

Mr. Marks received his law degree in 1988 from the University of Southern California Law Center, where he served as editor of the moot court program. Mr. Marks received undergraduate degrees in history and economics from Brown University in 1983, and he remains active in Brown's local alumni community. He is a diplomate of the University of Coimbra in Coimbra, Portugal, where he received a Gulbenkian Fellowship in 1981.

Mr. Marks is currently serving as a Delegate to the policy-making arm of the American Bar Association, the ABA's House of Delgates.

In July 2011, Mr. Marks was appointed to a three-year term as a Commissioner on the California Commission on Access to Justice, a governmental agency comprised of trial court and appellate judges and practicing lawyers, among other legal professionals. Its mission is to oversee and coordinate programs dedicated to improving access to the California courts by those who are unable to afford legal counsel. Mr. Marks also serves as an adviser on the Executive Committee of the Solo and Small Firm Section of the California Bar. Previously, he served on the Executive Committee of the State Bar's Litigation Section, the Committee on the Administration of Justice, and the Litigation Section's Committee on Civil Jury Instructions. Mr. Marks is also a member of the Board of Editors of Los Angeles Lawyer Magazine.

Mr. Marks is a volunteer attorney for Public Counsel, the largest pro bono institution serving the legal needs of the disadvantaged. Based on his long-standing commitment to Public Counsel's Community Development Project, Mr. Marks was honored as "Advocate of the Year" by Public Counsel for the year 2008.

A sampling of some of Mr. Marks's recent jury trials follows:

City of Stockton et al. v. [Confidential Firm Client]. Mr. Marks was lead defense counsel in a three-week jury trial in San Joaquin County Superior Court. The case was a quiet title action, with environmental law overtones, involving a disputed parcel of land on the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. After prevailing against both adverse parties, Mr. Marks and his client were awarded over one million dollars in private attorney general attorneys' fees, and the trial court's decision and fee award were upheld on appeal.

[Confidential Firm Client] v. C.R. Shelton, etc. Mr. Marks served as first chair plaintiffs' counsel in a complex residential construction defect lawsuit in Orange County Superior Court. The matter settled on confidential terms in May 2008 on the sixth day of trial.

Epicor Software Corporation v. [Confidential Firm Client]. Mr. Marks served as trial and appellate counsel in a commercial contract case relating to the purchase and sale of manufacturing software. As lead defense counsel, Mr. Marks obtained a defense verdict for the firm's client, and the trial court awarded the client 100% of its attorneys' fees, to be paid by the losing plaintiff. Although the plaintiff appealed these decisions, the California Court of Appeal upheld the jury verdict and the attorneys' fees award in their entirety.

HBLA, Inc. v. [Confidential Firm Client]. Mr. Marks acted as "first chair" defense counsel in a contract and fraud case in Orange County Superior Court, in which the plaintiff accused Mr. Marks's client of misappropriating a six-figure federal income tax payment. After a seven day trial, the jury exonerated Mr. Marks's client in full, while finding another defendant liable. The court later awarded attorneys' fees to Mr. Marks's client.

Palos Verdes Unified School Dist. v. [Confidential Firm Client]. Mr. Marks served as "first chair" defense counsel in a lease case in Los Angeles County Superior Court, in which the parties disputed the date on which a private elementary school's lease ended. After a five-day trial, the jury awarded a verdict in favor of Mr. Marks's client, and the plaintiff later agreed to reimburse the client's attorneys' fees.

[Confidential Firm Client] v. Mitsui Construction et al. Mr. Marks was one of plaintiff's lead counsel in the largest civil litigation in the history of Micronesia. In a ten-month jury trial in Guam Superior Court, Mr. Marks conducted jury selection and examined over twenty-five trial witnesses. Mr. Marks's client won a verdict of $73,000,000, and, in a second phase of the trial, won a punitive damages award for another $73,000,000.