Paul S. Schleifman, Founder and Managing Attorney

Paul Schleifman has extensive litigation, mediation, arbitration, trial and appellate experience. He has personally handled all phases of litigation including initial pleadings, pre-trial motions, discovery, bench and jury trials, and appeals. His history of successful results in complex litigation, transactional matters and alternative dispute resolution has clients seeking him out for their most difficult problems.

Upon graduation from George Mason Law School, Paul began work for a tax boutique firm in Washington, D.C. and started working on an LLM in Taxation at Georgetown University. Paul credits his study of the U.S. Tax Code, which required him to question the use of every word and the placement of every comma, with the approach he brings to his cases today – study and question every fact and know the law better than his adversary.

After four years, Paul joined Jackson & Campbell, where he started working on general civil litigation matters and began to focus on insurance coverage litigation. Paul left Jackson & Campbell as a Partner after 10 years to focus more on trial work and commercial litigation. He joined the D.C. office of Lane & Mittendorf, a New York law firm, and then joined Shook, Hardy & Bacon, PA, a litigation powerhouse, in its D.C. Office. At Shook, Paul worked on anti-trust, pharmaceutical, insurance, class actions, MDLs and other large bet the company litigation matters. While these cases presented numerous intellectual and other challenges, over time Paul found that he was no longer in the courtroom regularly and instead spent much of his time either supervising dozens of attorneys and paralegals in a given case or meeting with attorneys representing other defendants talking policy and planning strategy. After 10 years as a Partner at Shook, Paul left and opened his own practice in the Washington, D.C. area in order to get back in the courtroom on a more regular basis and play a more meaningful role as an advocate for his clients.

Paul is delighted he made that choice and so are the many clients he has represented over the past few years. Paul has found himself back in the courtroom on a regular basis using the skills he acquired over the years to represent clients in trial courts in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. Paul continues to focus on civil and insurance litigation, as he finds insurance policies to be some of the most complex and challenging contracts in the marketplace. Paul also focuses on representing clients in business transactions, working with them on asset acquisitions, advising them on insurance-related matters, and defending their interests in litigation and alternative dispute resolution. In the event a matter fails outside of the Firm’s expertise, Paul goes to his network of highly-qualified attorneys and makes a thoughtful referral to ensure that his current clients, former clients, and even prospective clients, receive the expertise and guidance they need.
Paul works tirelessly for his clients and enjoys the freedom to work on matters that are intriguing to him and important to his clients. Paul does not shy away from challenging or complex cases, and has added medical malpractice, personal injury and wrongful death cases to his primary practice areas. The following examples are just an illustration of Paul’s litigation experience:

• • Lead counsel successfully opposing Certiorari in an arbitration dispute before the United States Supreme Court
  • Representation of Qui Tam relator in False Claims Act action successfully recovering over $13 Million for relator and U.S.
  • Lead counsel representing employer successfully vacating an arbitration award before the US Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit
  • Lead trial counsel representing captive insurer in federal court litigation seeking coverage for underlying bodily injury and property damage claims
  • Lead trial counsel in Maryland state court action concerning wrongful termination and dissolution of closely held corporation
  • Lead trial counsel in Maryland federal court action involving insurance coverage for property damage claims
  • Lead trial counsel in District of Columbia action representing corporate and directors and officers against claims of fraud by minority shareholders
  • Lead trial counsel in Virginia state court action involving fraud, breach of contract and business conspiracy
  • Lead counsel defending major retailer in FCRA and ECOA class action
  • Lead counsel defending officers and directors of printing business against fraud claims
  • Lead counsel representing the working interest owner in gas royalty action in New Mexico
  • Lead counsel representing pharmaceutical manufacturer against unfair trade practice and other claims brought by the Attorneys General of numerous states

Bar Admissions

• District of Columbia
• Virginia
• Maryland
• U.S. Supreme Court
• U.S. Court of Appeals, 4th Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit
• U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia
• U.S. District Court, District of Maryland
• U.S. District Court, District of Columbia
• U.S. Tax Court

Education

• George Mason University, J.D. with distinction
• State University of New York at Oswego. B.S.

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