Paul Williams

Paul  Williams is an Associate in the Dallas office of McKool  Smith whose practice deals with complex commercial and intellectual property litigation in a variety of jurisdictions.

Mr.  Williams studied finance and international business while in college. In his work prior to joining McKool  Smith, and in his current work for the firm, Mr.  Williams has pursued an interest in complex civil and fiduciary litigation, including cases related to constitutional liberties and civil rights.

Representative Matters

• InFocus Corporation. Mr. Williams represented InFocus Corporation, the worldwide leader in multimedia projection systems, in a lawsuit concerning intellectual property licensing and royalty obligations.
• ORIX Capital Markets. Mr. Williams represented ORIX in several lawsuits involving multi-billion-dollar real estate mortgage investment conduits. Each of these cases resulted in multimillion dollar settlements for ORIX.
• Nationsbank of Texas, N.A. Prior to joining McKool Smith, Mr. Williams represented the bank, as executor, in connection with an attempt to have then-President Clinton’s retroactive increase in the estate tax declared unconstitutional.
• Unaio so Vegetal. In Unaio so Vegetal v. United States, Mr. Williams represented a church that used hallucinogenic substances in its sacramental practice. The church challenged the government’s regulation of this practice as a violation of the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause. In a landmark decision, the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit ultimately upheld the church’s use of such substances for religious purposes.
• In re Sam Graham. Mr. Williams represented the petitioner in a case that was ultimately responsible for opening the Texas probate court up to non-traditional probate cases, such as custody battles, personal injury cases, and some torts and contract actions.

Professional & Community Activities

• Association of Trial Lawyers of America
• Dallas Association of Young Lawyers