Paul G. Murtagh

Mr. Murtagh is a business litigator whose practice focuses on a wide range of complex commercial litigation matters including business litigation, unfair competition, government litigation, entertainment, insurance coverage disputes, defendant class actions, and other business contract and tort claims.  He has represented publicly traded companies and emerging businesses in the advertising, entertainment, energy, real estate, and technology industries. He also has been a “lawyer’s lawyer,” defending other attorneys in court proceedings.

Mr. Murtagh has successfully litigated a variety of matters, including representing an advertising directory in a suit for tortious interference with the client’s customer base, obtaining a $4.25 million jury verdict entered against the client’s leading competitor in Southern California and later obtaining an attorney fee award of over $1.2 million.

Mr. Murtagh also obtained a defense judgment in a class action against a public agency providing health insurance to low-income individuals in Los Angeles County.  He represented a Fortune 500 company in a long-running third-party enforcement action filed by a county water district against current and former owners and operators of industrial sites that allegedly contributed to groundwater contamination for damages under the Carpenter–Presley–Tanner Hazardous Substance Account Act and the county water district act, among other claims.  He also defended “wage theft” actions brought by the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office, relating to the underpayment of workers in private businesses and public works projects.

Prior to affiliating with the firm, Mr. Murtagh was a partner in a boutique litigation firm, working with and opposing some of the largest and most well-known firms in California.

Mr. Murtagh received his B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley in 1991 and his J.D. from Suffolk University Law School / University of California, Hastings College of the Law in 1995.

While in law school, he was a Judicial Extern Clerk in the Chambers of Justice Joyce L. Kennard of the Supreme Court of California, where he assessed Petitions for Review on civil, criminal, and administrative matters and drafted Conference Memoranda for the seven Justices and their staffs.  He also participated in drafting and researching Justice Kennard’s published opinions.

Mr. Murtagh has been voted by his peers as one of Southern California’s Super Lawyers every year from 2007 through 2023.