Attorneys

Paul R. Raskin

PRACTICE OVERVIEW

Paul Raskin’s cases have ranged from representing individuals in private company disputes and insurance coverage matters to multimillion dollar high profile cases involving municipalities, media companies, financial corporations, real estate developers, tobacco companies, and some of the largest accounting, engineering and law firms. Paul has successfully litigated complex contract, insurance coverage and insurer bad faith, real estate, intellectual property, employment, professional liability, business tort, business-related personal injury and a variety of other claims in federal and state courts throughout Washington.  He has the highest peer review ratings and has authored articles relating to insurance law, litigation and legal ethics.

EDUCATION/BACKGROUND

Paul grew up in Bellevue, Washington playing competitive tennis and skiing.  He received his B.A. in Business Administration at the University of Washington before attending Columbia Law School where he was a Stone Scholar and an editor of the Columbia Business Law Review.  Prior to founding Raskin Litigation, Paul was a partner at the Seattle law firms Corr Cronin and Rafel Law Group, and an associate at Byrnes & Keller and the Business & Securities Litigation Department of Weil Gotshal & Manges in New York City.

CASE HIGHLIGHTS

Paul draws upon a breadth of experience, representing businesses and individuals in business litigation, insurance litigation and other cases in Washington state and federal courts.  Case Highlights (including Paul’s work at prior firms):

• Real Estate Litigation – Obtained $2MM+ judgment plus attorney’s fees for real estate developer after three-week trial against City for tortious interference and infringing on vested rights.

• Complex Breach of Contract Litigation – Defended international company against alleged multimillion dollar holdback claims arising from acquisition of oil services company. Successfully mediated after completing key depositions and discovery motion.

• Breach of Fiduciary Duty Litigation – Prosecuted multimillion dollar breach of fiduciary duty and contract claims by limited partner against general partner that allegedly defrauded her out of interest in commercial property. Resolved favorably after deposing general partner, obtaining order piercing attorney-client privilege and filing summary judgment motion.

• Complex Commercial Litigation – Represented media company in suit to block Seattle Times' attempt to terminate a twenty-year-old joint operating agreement between the Seattle Post Intelligencer and Seattle Times. Times paid over twenty-four million to settle claims.

• Private Company Disputes – Represented LLC members, shareholders, and companies in variety of private company disputes, including relating to dissolution, information rights, and alleged breaches of operating agreements and fiduciary duties.

• Insurance Coverage Litigation (Property Damage) – Prosecuted multimillion dollar claims against London insurers for coverage of wind turbines damaged in hurricane. Settled at mediation in London, following key depositions and motion practice.

• Insurance Coverage and Bad Faith Litigation (embezzlement) – Prosecuted claims for theft coverage under all-risks property policy.

• Insurance Coverage (Defense Costs) – Prosecuted insurance coverage claims for defense costs incurred defending nationwide claims against mobile carrier.

• Insurance Fair Conduct Act – Appellate counsel in Supreme Court of Washington proceedings relating to application of Insurance Fair Conduct Act treble damages provision.

• Business-Related Personal Injury Litigation – Defended Fortune 500 companies in manufacturing, aviation and worksite-related personal injury litigation.

• Trade Secrets Litigation (Plaintiff)– Prosecuted claims against former manager of technology company to enjoin use and disclosure of trade secrets related to automobile infotainment system; obtained preliminary and permanent injunctive relief. Prosecuted claims to enjoin alleged misappropriation of trade secrets and breach of fiduciary duty by former employee of finance company; obtained injunctive relief.

• Trade Secrets Litigation (Defendant) – Defended chief intellectual property counsel of technology company against claims by former employer arising from new employment with competitor. Obtained dismissal of state law claims, resolved remaining injunctive relief claims after fact and expert discovery.

• Professional Liability Defense – Defended law firm against multimillion dollar professional negligence counterclaims; obtained summary judgment after close of discovery. Successfully defended other law, accounting, engineering and healthcare companies against professional negligence claims.

HIGH PROFILE LITIGATION

Paul has had the privilege of representing plaintiffs and defendants in high profile litigation throughout his career.  Highlights from some of the cases that made headlines (including Paul’s work at prior firms):

• Real Estate Litigation against City of Tacoma.  In the late 2010’s, Paul represented a real estate developer that sued the City of Tacoma for wrongfully interfering with its development of a superstore.  The real estate developer was awarded over $2MM in damages plus attorney’s fees in a case that was reported by the Tacoma News Tribune and Komo4.com.

• Port of Anchorage Litigation.  In the mid-2010’s, Paul represented a large engineering company in an alleged $150 million dollar professional negligence lawsuit commenced by the Municipality of Anchorage arising from the construction of a new port in Anchorage.  The case was widely reported by the Anchorage Dispatch News, Alaska Journal of Commerce and other media outlets.

• Alleged Ponzi Scheme Litigation.  In the early 2010’s, Paul was part of a team of litigators representing an accounting firm in litigation filed by a bankruptcy trustee seeking to recover investor losses arising from an alleged $100 million dollar Ponzi scheme.  The case was reported in the Seattle Times and Puget Sound Business Journal.

• Seattle Newspaper Litigation.  In the late 2000’s, Paul was part of a team of litigators representing the owners of the Seattle Post Intelligencer against the Seattle Times.  Paul personally took and defended over ten depositions in the case before the Times agreed to pay Hearst Communications over twenty-four million dollars to settle the claims. 

• Spokane Parking Garage Bond Litigation.  In the early 2000’s, Paul represented one of Seattle’s largest law firms in securities litigation arising from the issuance of bonds issued to finance the construction of the RPS garage.  The lawsuit was widely reported in the Spokane area.

• Tobacco Litigation.  In the late 1990’s, Paul worked with a team of lawyers to defend a tobacco company against billion dollar smoking and health claims alleged by the State of Washington.  The case was widely reported in Seattle newspapers.

• Securities Litigation.  In the early 1990’s, as an associate in the Business & Securities Litigation Department of one of the largest law firms in the country, Weil Gotshal & Manges, Paul worked on securities fraud lawsuits alleging hundreds of millions of dollars in damages, including litigation that was reported on page 1 of the Wall Street Journal.

(Note:  Each case is different and has its own unique facts and client objectives.  Case results vary with facts and applicable law.)

Education

COLUMBIA LAW SCHOOL
Juris Doctor, 1992

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
B.A., Business Administration, 1988

Accolades

• Super Lawyers (since 2014)

• Best Lawyers In America (Since 2013)

• Litigation Counsel of America

• Martindale AV Preeminent

• AVVO 10

Bar Admissions

• Washington, Oregon