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Paul Starita, Singleton Schreiber Photo

Overview

Paul Starita is a Partner at Singleton Schreiber with over 30 years of experience as a trial attorney. He exclusively represents plaintiffs in catastrophic personal injury and mass tort matters in State and Federal courts. He leads the Fire Litigation practice group at Singleton Schreiber and litigates a wide range of cases including Personal Injury, Fire, Mass Torts, and more.

Before joining the Singleton Schreiber team, Paul served the people of San Diego and Imperial counties as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for over 18 years. Paul represented the United States, its agencies, officers, and employees in a wide variety of civil litigation matters, including cases involving industrial and vehicle accidents, premises liability, wrongful death, medical malpractice, constitutional torts, and employment. In addition, Paul prosecuted civil health care and procurement fraud cases under the False Claims Act.

Paul was a federal prosecutor for 10 years before serving as a civil trial attorney. He investigated and prosecuted more than 1,000 felony cases involving corruption, drug trafficking/organized crime, human trafficking, money laundering, and violent crime. He has tried more than 50 jury and bench trials in Federal court.

Prior to joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Paul spent two years at a mid-size law firm in Newport Beach, California, where he litigated land use claims for individual landowners and developers throughout Southern California.

Paul proudly served our nation as a U.S. Marine, on active duty and in the Reserve. He attained the rank of Colonel and served in various leadership and legal roles, including Military Trial Judge and Appellate Judge on the Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals. For many years, Paul also advised senior government officials on environmental compliance and litigation matters in the Marine Corps’ western region.

He also served as the Marine Corps’ lead counsel on regional Clean Air Act matters involving hazardous air pollutants / toxic air contaminants, emissions trading, compliance with national ambient air quality standards, mobile source emissions, stationary source compliance, and fuels.

Early in his career, he had a robust trial practice as a military prosecutor involving criminal conduct ranging from DUI to murder. While our nation was at war, Paul was handpicked and returned to active duty to defend Marines accused of war crimes related to combat operations in Iraq.

Paul attended Thomas M. Cooley Law School and holds a Master of Laws (LLM) with a concentration in Environmental Law from the University of San Diego School of Law.

Paul is currently an adjunct professor at the University of San Diego School of Law, where he instructs first-year law students on civil trial practice.

Honors & Awards

Top 100 Plaintiff Jury Verdicts in California for 2025 – by TopVerdict.com

Case Results

  • $11.1M Verdict in Truck Driver Assault Case

    Singleton Schreiber secured an $11.162 million jury verdict and confidential settlement on behalf of a client assaulted by a Valley Farm Transport driver. The jury found the company liable for its driver's actions and for approving the conduct after the fact, rejecting Valley Farm’s claim that the driver was merely an independent contractor. The result delivers justice for the client and reinforces corporate accountability in the trucking industry.

Professional Affiliations

Membership

Board Member, San Diego County Bar Association

Member, Consumer Attorneys of San Diego

Member, Federal Bar Association

Member, Lawyers Club

Member, American Legion Post 416: Encinitas

Member, Hawaii Association of Justice

News & Publications

News

Blog Posts

Education

University of San Diego School of Law, LLM (Concentration in Environmental Law)

Thomas M. Cooley Law School 

Admissions

  • State Bar of California
  • State Bar of Hawaii
  • State Bar of Georgia
  • State Bar of Montana
  • State Bar of Washington
  • United States District Courts of Hawaii
  • United States District Courts for the Southern District of California
  • United States District Courts for the Northern District of California
  • United States District Courts for the Eastern District of California
  • United States District Courts for the Central District of California
  • United States District Courts for the Western District of Washington
  • United States District Courts for the Southern District of Illinois
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

Languages

  • English

Firm News

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