Paul Williams

Paul Williams is Senior Counsel in the Houston office of McKool  Smith whose practice deals with complex commercial and intellectual property litigation in a variety of jurisdictions.

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

• Canyon Ridge Resort LLC. Representing a hotel development firm against an investment bank for fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, and breach of contract.

• InFocus Corporation. Represented InFocus Corporation, the worldwide leader in multimedia projection systems, in a lawsuit concerning intellectual property licensing and royalty obligations.

• ORIX Capital Markets. Represented ORIX in several lawsuits involving multibillion-dollar real estate mortgage investment conduits. Each of these cases resulted in significant settlements for ORIX.

• Nationsbank of Texas, N.A. Prior to joining McKool Smith, Paul 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, Paul 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. 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.

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