C. Paul Cavender
Paul counsels and represents clients in "bet the company," high stakes litigation, prepares and implements national defense strategies for clients and tries difficult cases to verdict. The primary emphasis of his trial practice is upon mass tort and complex litigation with particular interest upon cases involving scientific, medical and engineering complexity. Prior to his law career he was a chemist for a major petrochemical company.
Paul practices in the Litigation section, focusing primarily on mass tort and complex litigation with particular emphasis on product liability litigation. He serves as a National Trial Counsel and as Regional Counsel for defendants in mass tort litigation. He receives assignments from excess insurers for litigation of large loss claims. His experience also includes commercial and insurance litigation, medical device litigation, FELA and ERISA litigation. He has a broad spectrum of regular clients.
Chambers USA, the highly regarded legal directory which is based upon actual client interviews, has listed Paul as a “Leader in their Field” since 2008 in Commercial Litigation. Paul is listed in Best Lawyers in America in the practice areas of Mass Tort Litigation, in Products Liability and in Commercial Litigation. Alabama Super Lawyers recognizes him in the area of Class Action/Mass Torts and in Personal Injury Defense: Products. Paul has been an A-V rated by Martindale-Hubbell for many years. He is a member of the American Bar Association (Tort and Insurance Practice Section of Litigation, and Trial Practice Committee). He also belongs to the Alabama State Bar, the Birmingham Bar Association, the Defense Research Institute (Toxic Tort & Environmental Litigation – Program Committee), and the International Association of Defense Counsel. In 2010, he was an instructor at the ABA’s TIPS National Trial Academy.
Paul is a member of the U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Middle, and Southern Districts of Alabama, the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court. He has been a speaker at national litigation seminars and has published nationally distributed articles on subjects related to mass torts and industry wide litigation.
A 1984 graduate of Cumberland School of Law at Samford University, Paul served on the Moot Court Board and was selected to the Order of the Barristers. He was also Captain of the Jessup Competition Moot Court Team. He received his B.A. in Natural Sciences from the University of South Florida.
- Best Lawyers in America, Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions-Defendants (2013-2020), Commercial Litigation (2013-2020), Product Liability Litigation-Defendants (2013-2020)
- Best Lawyers in America, "Lawyer of the Year," Product Liability Litigation, Birmingham, Alabama (2017)
- Best Lawyers in America, "Lawyer of the Year," Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Defendants, Birmingham, Alabama (2015)
- Mid-South Super Lawyers, Class Action (2016-2019)
- Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent© Peer Review Rating
- Chambers USA, Leading Practitioner in Litigation: General Commercial (2008-2019)
- Alabama Super Lawyers, Class Action (2011-2015)
Birmingham, Alabama 35203
