Paul Beach
Paul Beach joined the firm as an associate in 2000 and became a shareholder in 2003. Mr. Beach graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1989 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science. Mr. Beach obtained his Juris Doctorate from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles in 1993.
From 1993 to 2000, Mr. Beach practiced complex business litigation (for private and public entities) involving issues such as real estate, professional malpractice, bankruptcy, and environmental contamination. Early in his career, Mr. Beach participated in a one-year externship with Chief Judge Alex Kozinski of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. For several years, Mr. Beach was named as one of the top young lawyers in California by the magazine Southern California Super Lawyers - Rising Stars Edition. Mr. Beach has also been named Attorney of the Year by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
Mr. Beach is a successful trial attorney, having defended various clients in employment, civil rights, forfeiture, disciplinary, and general liability matters in the state and federal courts. In 2004, Mr. Beach was one of the members of the firm who defended Orange County and the Orange County Sheriff in consolidated matters entitled Pierce v. County of Orange and Stewart v. Gates. This was a class action brought on behalf of inmates at the Orange County Jail relating to an injunction that had been in place for 27 years. Following extensive litigation and a full trial, the trial court entered judgment for the County and the Sheriff and vacated the long-standing injunction.
Mr. Beach has also handled high profile cases as lead defense counsel for the County of Los Angeles in number of state and federal class actions regarding management of its jail system, which is the largest in the world. Mr. Beach has successfully litigated more than 25 cases arising out of inmate deaths in the County jails. In addition to his accomplishments in the trial courts, Mr. Beach is an active appellate attorney who has prevailed in numerous cases before the state and federal courts of appeal.
Mr. Beach has represented, almost exclusively, public entities and/or their employees in a variety of areas including, but not limited to: the defense of police misconduct; defense of the District Attorney’s Office; defense of the Public Defender’s Office; defense of the Superior and Municipal Courts; defense of public entities in employment litigation; defense of Fair Housing matters; and jail-related litigation including, but not limited to, conditions of confinement class action lawsuits, over-crowding lawsuits, and over-detention lawsuits.
Mr. Beach has also successfully resolved general liability matters for a number of public entities, including a case against the Los Angeles County Sheriff in a multi-million dollar dispute over the largest emerald in the world. Mr. Beach has handled matters involving dangerous conditions of public property, personal injury actions involving injuries to (as well as caused by) public employees, and high-exposure automobile accidents. One such case involved brain damage caused to a grandmother who was hit by a bus while crossing an intersection.
Mr. Beach has extensive experience in all phases of litigation: pre-filing, responsive pleadings (including temporary restraining orders), complex discovery, trial preparation, trial (jury and bench), post-trial, and appeal. Mr. Beach has participated in hundreds of depositions and dozens of mediations, settlement conferences, and trials. Most of Mr. Beach’s employment and general liability cases have been resolved through summary judgment. Those that have survived summary judgment have either been taken to trial or resolved via settlements that are favorable to the client. Mr. Beach has also argued cases in the California Courts of Appeal, the California Supreme Court, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
In addition, Mr. Beach has handled several high-profile administrative proceedings on behalf of public entity employers (terminations, demotions, substantial suspensions), such as civil service proceedings, arbitrations, and related superior court proceedings, such as writs. One such matter involved a well-publicized police shooting that garnered significant media exposure.
Mr. Beach has been a faculty member of Lorman Education Services and has frequently lectured on matters relating to employment litigation including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA).