Russell D. Paul
Biography
Russell Paul is a Shareholder in the Consumer Protection; Whistleblower, Qui Tam & False Claims Act; Securities & Investor Protection; and Commercial Litigation practice groups. He concentrates his practice on consumer class actions, False Claims Act litigation, securities class actions and derivative suits, and commercial litigation matters.
Mr. Paul has litigated consumer protection and product defect actions in the automotive, pet food, beverage, tax shelter, e-cigarette, and home products industries. He is currently litigating consumer class actions against JUUL Labs, Fiat Chrysler, General Motors, Ford, Nissan, Subaru, Toyota, and Volkswagen.
He has litigated securities class actions against numerous public companies, including Toll Brothers, Tyco International Ltd., Baxter Healthcare Corp., ALSTOM S.A., and Able Laboratories, Inc. He has also litigated derivative actions in various state courts around the country, including in the Delaware Court of Chancery.
In addition, Mr. Paul’s work includes qui tam cases that have returned millions of dollars to the federal government.
He has also briefed and argued in federal appellate courts around the country.
Mr. Paul has been designated a “Pennsylvania Super Lawyer,” a “Top Attorney in Pennsylvania,” and a Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyer. He has presented around the country at legal seminars on consumer product class actions, and his work has been profiled in the Wall Street Journal.
Mr. Paul graduated from the Columbia University School of Law (J.D. 1989) where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, served on the Moot Court Review Board, and interned at the United States Attorneys’ Office for the Southern District of New York. He began his legal career in the New York office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.
He completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania, earning a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School (1986) and a B.A. in History from the College of Arts and Sciences (1986). He was elected to the Beta Gamma Sigma Honors Society.
Over the last year, Russell Paul has been heavily involved in the ongoing litigation against JUUL. In April 2019, Russell went to Congress to brief the U.S. House Committee on Oversight & Government Reform on JUUL’s marketing practices. Russell and his team advised members of the committee on their questioning of James Monsees, co-founder of JUUL, who testified before the House Committee in July 2019. Within a week of the July hearing, several new federal cases were filed, and JUUL filed for an MDL petition.
In addition to lobbying Congress, Russell spoke on a panel titled “JUUL and Our Kids: Marketing and Promoting the JUUL Device From ‘Vaporized’ to ‘Make the Switch’” at HarrisMartin’s JUUL, E-Cigarettes & Vaping Conference: Emerging Litigation and Liability Theories in St. Louis, MO. He also published an article in The Legal Intelligencer titled “The Case for Separately Tracked Leadership Appointments in MDLs.” Outside of JUUL, Russell has continued his focus on auto defect class action lawsuits, presenting at another HarrisMartin conference titled “Emerging Trends in the Prosecution and Defense of Auto Defect Litigation” in Tampa, FL. Russell’s panel was called “This Has Nothing to Do With Emissions: Auto-Defect Mega Cases Spooling Up Now.”
Business and Community Leadership
- Board Member, Ceasefire PA, to reduce gun violence in Pennsylvania
- Board Member, Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society
- Board Member, Jewish Exponent
- Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, Board of Trustees
- Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, Israel Advocacy Committee
- Perelman Jewish Day School, Strategic Engagement Committee
Judicial Praise:
The Wall Street Journal, “Pet-Food Companies Settle Lawsuit,” May 24, 2008.
Prominent Judgments and Settlements
- In re Tyco International Securities Litigation ($3 billion)
- In re Tremont Securities Law, State Law, and Insurance Litigation ($100 million)
- In re Sepracor Inc. Securities Litigation ($52.5 million)
- In re Sprint Corporation Shareholder Litigation ($57.5 million)
- In re Parmalat Securities Litigation ($90 million)
- In re Pet Food Product Liability Litigation ($32 million)
- The City of Hialeah Employees’ Retirement System et al. v. Toll Brothers Inc. ($25 million)
- CALPERS v. LoneStar Steak House (derivative action settlement)
- Litigation re: PICO tax shelter (confidential settlement)
- Simmens v. The Coca-Cola Company, et al. (consumer product – confidential settlement)
- Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Securities Litigation ($1.5 million)
- In re Able Laboratories Securities Litigation ($9.15 million)
In the News
- UHS to Pay $117 Million to Settle False Claims Act Allegations for Medically Unnecessary Inpatient Psychiatric Services and Illegal Kickbacks
- Qui Tam Lawsuit to Proceed Against Hospice Care Provider Care Alternatives
- Health First Agrees to Pay $3.5 Million to Resolve False Claims Act Lawsuit
- Settlement Reached in Class Action Lawsuit Against Ford Motor Company