Education:

• J.D., Suffolk University School of Law (cum laude), 1986
• Utter Barrister, Gray’s Inn, London, England (Bar, 1980)
• L.L.B., U.C. Cardiff (United Kingdom), 1979 

Practice Areas:

• Business Litigation
• Insurance and Reinsurance
• Real Estate Litigation

Trained as a barrister in the U.K. before moving to the United States in 1984, Paul White became a partner at the firm in 1990 and presently serves on the firm’s Executive Committee.  Paul has an active trial practice and has tried over 15 civil jury trials to verdict as well as handling numerous mediations and appeals.  He has been elected a Massachusetts Super Lawyer in the area of business litigation since 2005 (a distinction conferred on less than 5% of the Massachusetts bar).  Paul has broad experience handling complex civil litigation matters, with a focus on claims under UCC Article 2, complex contract claims, commercial lease and shopping mall lease disputes, and supply chain disputes (including advising concerning product recalls and the pursuit of third-party recovery via insurance or indemnity).  Paul also represents insurers in complex insurance and reinsurance disputes.  He is a regular writer and speaker on the subject of commercial contracts, contract disputes and litigation-related topics.

Representative Matters:

• Represents major national retailer in litigation seeking over $4 million in tax overcharges under shopping center lease
• Obtained $2 million jury verdict in supply chain dispute enforcing pre-contractual Letter of Intent (believed to be highest verdict in the Business Litigation Session of the Massachusetts Superior Court in 2004)
• Successfully obtained $1.2 million settlement during trial in breach of commercial contract dispute for supplier alleging wrongful termination of Long Term Agreement to supply automotive parts
• Successfully defended corporation and majority shareholders in claim by minority shareholder alleging breach of Shareholder Buy-Sell Agreement, defeating all claims on summary judgment
• Representation of bicycle manufacturer in claim against bicycle cooperative alleging breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract and interference with advantageous relations, successfully resolving all claims at pre-suit mediation
• Successfully represented specialty wire manufacturer in claim against Underwriters Laboratories for wrongful withholding of UL approval and negligent testing, including preparation of recall of shipped product prior to obtaining UL agreement to withdraw test results and voluntary lifting of stop ship order
• Representation of switch manufacturer in instituting voluntary recall of allegedly defective switch and effective parallel resolution of over one hundred claims for property damage and indemnity
• Successfully obtained mandatory preliminary injunction in supply chain dispute requiring continued supply under long-term supply agreement enabling client to meet its own supply obligations to OEM
• Representation of excess carrier in complex insurance dispute with insured in nationwide asbestos litigation seeking excess coverage based on alleged exhaustion of primary limits, successfully defeating summary judgment and obtaining beneficial settlement of excess coverage claim
• Representation of subcontractor in catastrophic construction accident claim, successfully defeating claims by owner and general contractor for indemnity of multimillion dollar settlement of underlying claim
• Representation of employers and employees in claims alleging violation of non-compete agreements and wrongful disclosure of trade secrets including obtaining and defeating claims for preliminary relief

• Massachusetts Super Lawyers (Business Litigation), Boston magazine, 2005-2009
• Rated AV® Preeminent™ by Martindale-Hubbell

Memberships:

• Boston Bar Association
• Purchasing Management Association of Boston
• Institute of Supply Management
• Gray’s Inn, London, England
• International Association for Contract and Commercial Management
• International Council of Shopping Centers
• Defense Research Institute, Inc.
• Massachusetts Reinsurance Bar Association (Founding Member; Treasurer, 2010-; Director, 2009-2010)

Speaking Engagements:

Paul is a frequent speaker and presenter at continuing legal education programs on deposition and trial techniques, has served as a faculty member at deposition workshops sponsored by the National Institute of Trial Advocacy and is a frequent speaker on the subject of enforcement of commercial contracts.

Recent speaking engagements include the following:

• October 2009 -- invited speaker on Drafting, Review and Enforcement of Contracts in the Supply Chain at annual meeting of National Association of Educational Buyers, New England Region
• September 2009 -- faculty member and speaker on Reducing the Cost of Reinsurance Disputes, Massachusetts Reinsurance Bar Association Fall Symposium
• March 2009 -- featured speaker at Spring meeting of Purchasing Management Association of Boston on the subject of drafting and enforcement of commercial contracts 

Publications:

• “First Circuit Declines to Vacate Revised Arbitration Award,” MReBA Cover Notes, a publication of the Massachusetts Reinsurance Bar Association, (Spring 2009)
• “Tips for Drafting a Commercial Agreement and When to Use a Lawyer,”  The Manufacturing Advancement Center (MAC) Action Newsline, (Oct. 2008)
• “Tips for Getting the Most from Your Commercial Contracts,” The Manufacturing Advancement Center (MAC) Action Newsline, (Sept. 2008)
• “Writings and the Memory of a Witness: Effective Use of Documents at Trial for Impeachment and Other Purposes,” Journal of the Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys, (Fall 1997)

Admissions:

• United Kingdom
• Massachusetts
• U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts

Related News:

October 28, 2009 -
Super Lawyers Recognizes Sixteen SRBC Partners

The just-released 2009 edition of Massachusetts Super Lawyers, the annual peer-survey-based listing of outstanding lawyers, recognizes sixteen of SRBC's partners. A number of these were named as among the very top lawyers in Massachusetts and in New England. This year's list:

• Michael S. Appel, Personal Injury Plaintiff: Medical Malpractice
• David A. Barry, Personal Injury Defense: Products; Top 100 Lawyers in Massachusetts and in New England
• Edward J. Barshak, Business Litigation; Top 100 Lawyers in Massachusetts and in New England
• William L. Boesch, Business Litigation
• Anthony M. Doniger, Business Litigation; Top 10 Lawyers in Massachusetts (2nd Top Point Getter); Top 100 Lawyers in New England
• Samuel M. Furgang, Insurance Coverage
• Alan S. Geismer, Family Law
• Lisa C. Goodheart, Environmental; Top 100 Lawyers in Massachusetts and in New England; Top 50 Female Lawyers in Massachusetts and in New England
• Susan A. Hartnett, Insurance Coverage
• Natasha C. Lisman, Business Litigation; Top 50 Female Lawyers in Massachusetts
• Jean A. Musiker, Employment & Labor; Top 100 Lawyers in Massachusetts and in New England; Top 50 Female Lawyers in Massachusetts and in New England
• Christine M. Netski, Business Litigation
• John G. O’Neill, Business Litigation
• Regina E. Roman, Insurance Coverage; Top 50 Female Lawyers in Massachusetts
• Jeffrey S. Stern, Alternative Dispute Resolution
• Paul E. White, Business Litigation

For more on Super Lawyers and its selection process, follow this link.

May 11, 2009 -
SRBC Partners Help Found Reinsurance Bar Association
Natasha Lisman, Paul White and Susan Hartnett, all partners in SRBC's reinsurance practice, are among the founders of a new bar group, the Massachusetts Reinsurance Bar Association. MReBA was formed to foster sharing ideas for improving the dispute-resolution process in reinsurance matters, and to promote education and collegiality among the state's reinsurance lawyers. Paul will serve as a director of the association, Susan as chair of its publications committee, and Natasha as a member of the committee charged with organizing MReBA's fall symposium.

Related Publications:

Spring 2009 -
First Circuit: Arbitrator May Revisit and Clarify Award
Arbitration rules typically prevent an arbitrator who has decided a dispute by issuing an award from later reconsidering the merits and revising the decision. The arbitrator usually may only make clerical corrections. But as SRBC's Paul White writes in a recent article in the Massachusetts Reinsurance Bar Association newsletter MReBA Cover Notes, the First Circuit has recently upheld an arbitrator's substantive revision of an award. The court held that the revision was permissible because it clarified the award, rather than altering the original result.

October 2008 -
Paul White's "Tips for Drafting a Commercial Agreement"
In another in his recent series of article for the Manufacturing Advancement Center, Paul White offers guidelines for non-lawyer personnel who are involved in drafting contracts. The article offers tips on how to approach a drafting project, what steps to take to ensure that important substantive provisions are included, and whether and when to involve a lawyer.

September 2008 -
Paul White Writes on Commercial Contracts

An article by SRBC partner Paul White entitled “Tips for Getting the Most from Your Commercial Contracts” appears in the September 2008 issue of The Manufacturing Advancement Center (MAC) Action Newsline. The article suggests that manufacturers conduct a regular review of their commercial contracts, and offers practical advice on what to look for.

Paul concentrates his practice in business litigation with a particular focus on contract disputes and advising companies in the drafting, negotiation, and interpretation of contracts and related issues.