Paul J. Hanly, Jr. was a named shareholder in the New York Office at Simmons Hanly Conroy, where he managed the firm’s Complex Litigation Group as a skilled trial lawyer and litigator. As a named shareholder, his impact on the firm—and on the legal industry broadly—cannot be overstated. Over the course of his prestigious 40-year career, he fought to give voice to the voiceless and help every human being, regardless of financial standing or socioeconomic status, fight for justice against corporate wrongdoing.

Paul was renowned for his exhaustive trial preparation, imaginative trial strategies, nearly photographic memory of the contents of
documents, and cross examinations that are tightly controlled and disarmingly effective.

For the first 20 years of his legal career, Paul served as lead national trial counsel and coordinating and settlement counsel to the world’s largest asbestos company in its asbestos product liability cases. For the following 20 years, Paul represented plaintiffs exclusively. He played key roles in some of the largest multidistrict litigations in the country, including serving in court-appointed leadership positions in federal district litigation involving prescription opioids, metal-on-metal hip implants, 9/11 terrorist attacks, Vioxx®, and Bextra®.

Paul’s impressive legal career demonstrated his stature as one of the preeminent litigators of the nation’s plaintiffs’ bar. The National Trial Lawyers association, in partnership with The National Law Journal, underscored this in 2020 by awarding him the Elite Trial Lawyers’ Lifetime Achievement Award. In addition, U.S. News & World Report/Best Lawyers has recognized Paul as a “Best Lawyer” in Mass Torts & Class Actions—Plaintiffs since 2019.

Paul and the firm were at the forefront of the unprecedented mass tort litigation that sought to resolve the ongoing opioid crisis. Paul served as the co-lead of the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee overseeing the federal opioid litigation consolidated in the Northern District of Ohio. He was court-appointed by Judge Dan Aaron Polster to the leadership position in 2018. In October 2019, Paul helped secure a total recovery of $325 million for two Ohio counties in the first federal bellwether trial against the opioid manufacturers. He was part of the team that hammered out the final settlement details on the eve of trial.
 

 

Simmons Hanly Conroy