Paul McDonald

pmcdonald@bernsteinshur.com
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Paul McDonald is a trial lawyer and Chair of the Firm’s 29-member Litigation Practice Group.  Paul concentrates his practice on complex commercial and business litigation matters, and has tried cases to both judges and juries in the State and Federal Courts in Maine and around the country.  Paul represents both plaintiffs and defendants, and has recovered and defended against numerous multi-million dollar claims. Paul is recognized by Chambers USA America's Leading Business Lawyers for commercial litigation and is AV-rated by Martindale Hubbell.

Some of Paul’s notable successes include the following:

For Plaintiffs:

• Lead counsel in successfully fending off a motion to dismiss and thereafter obtaining a settlement of $4.75 million in favor of plaintiffs in a federal securities fraud action brought in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts arising out of a tender offer by the general partner for interests in a real estate limited partnership.
  
  
  
• Lead counsel in successfully intervening in an action to compel the sale of a low income housing project and, after several days of trial in the Superior Court of Rhode Island, engineering and obtaining a favorable settlement whereby the project was ultimately sold and client received in excess of $1 million in sales proceeds.
  
  
  
• Lead counsel in obtaining cash settlements totaling $4.275 million in favor of the limited partners of six real estate limited partnerships alleging claims of breach of fiduciary duty against the general partners of the partnerships in consolidated actions brought in the Superior Court of Massachusetts.
  
  
  
• Lead counsel in obtaining a preliminary and permanent injunction in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in favor of Mobil Oil Co. after a multi-day evidentiary hearing in an action alleging trademark and trade dress infringement.
  
  
  
• Lead counsel in obtaining, on the eve of trial, a settlement of $2 million in favor of a regional energy producer/provider in a claim against its insurer for vandalism damage at a steam production facility brought in the Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia.

For Defendants:

• Lead counsel in successfully defeating preliminary injunction and damage claims brought by the direct competitor of a software manufacturing and development company alleging trademark, copyright, and misappropriation of trade secrets claims brought in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.  The suit sought to block distribution of the defendant’s flagship software product, and would have resulted, if successful, in driving the company out of business.
  
  
  
• Lead counsel in winning a defense verdict after a week long jury trial in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in favor of a merchant bank in a fraud/misrepresentation claim brought by a former owner seeking in excess of $10 million in damages.
  
  
  
• Co-counsel in winning a defense verdict after a week long trial in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in favor of Peugeot Motors of America in a case alleging a manufacturing defect in a Peugeot automobile.

Paul has successfully handled various corporate, securities, partnership, contract, environmental, copyright, patent, trademark, fraud, and product liability matters throughout his career.  Paul has broad experience in insurance coverage disputes involving multi-million dollar claims arising out of environmental contamination, advertising injury, and first-party property damage. Paul also represents telecommunications facility providers in tower siting disputes under the Federal Telecommunications Act (“TCA”), including bringing the very first action in Maine alleging violations of the TCA’s tower siting provisions.

Paul is a 1981 cum laude graduate of Carleton College and a 1986 graduate of Rutgers Law School, where he was the Notes and Comments Editor of the Rutgers Computer & Technology Law Journal. Paul is admitted to practice in Maine, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.  Paul previously practiced at leading New York and Philadelphia law firms, and had his own firm in Portland, before joining Bernstein Shur in 2001.

Paul is a member of the Board of the Wayside Soup Kitchen and a member of the Muskie Access to Justice Award Dinner Committee.  He lives with his wife and five children in Cape Elizabeth.

EDUCATION

JD, Rutgers Law School, 1986
BA, Carleton College, 1981, cum laude

AFFILIATIONS

Admitted to practice:
States of Maine, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania

Member:
Maine State Bar Association
American Bar Association
Edward Thaxter Gignoux Inn of Court
Wayside Soup Kitchen (Board of Directors)