Paul J. Perkins

For two decades, Paul has represented plaintiffs in personal injury and wrongful death cases involving negligence and intentional acts, including professional malpractice. He represents individuals and business in disputes involving fraud, negligent misrepresentation, violations of consumer protection laws and bad faith and insurance coverage claims. Paul frequently represents worker's compensation claimants and their families in claims against third parties arising from injuries at work. Paul also maintains a limited criminal practice.

Paul has tried dozens of cases to conclusion in before juries, trial judges and administrative law
judges. He is one of the few lawyers in Vermont to obtain a punitive damages award from a jury
in a personal injury case and maintain the award on appeal without reduction.

Paul is the former Chair of the Insurance Law Section of the Vermont Bar Association and currently teaches Intensive Trial Practice at Vermont Law and Graduate School, coaches its mock trial teams in a national mock trial competition and has lectured on ethics at Dartmouth College.

Paul's cases include:

Reliant Life Sciences, LLC v. AGC Biologics, Inc. and Daigle Computer Systems, Inc., no. 22-cv-137, D. N. H. 10/25/2022 (where Paul removed the case to federal court and obtained dismissal of the claims against his client for lack of personal jurisdiction); Carpentier v. Tuthill, 2013 VT 91, 195 Vt. 52, 86 A.3d 1006 (2013) (where Paul obtained compensatory and punitive damages awards against the defendant and maintained both damage awards on appeal); Blake v. Progressive Northern Ins. Co., No. 164-9-15 Oecv and White River Traffic Group, Inc. v. United Ohio Ins. Co. and Cass Insurance, Inc., No. 330-7-17 Wrcv (where Paul obtained rulings that allowed policy-holders to sue their insurers for deceptive acts under Vermont's Consumer Protection Act); Griffith v. Mozaffari, No. 451-9-15 Wrcv (August 13, 2018) (where Paul and Michael obtained rulings preventing the defendant from introducing third-party payments of plaintiff's medical bills at trial, under the collateral source rule); Choiniere, P & D Consulting, Inc. v. Marshall and Harris Beach LLP, No. 10-1-05 Wrcv (September 13, 2016) (Paul prevented the defendant from introducing evidence of plaintiff's settlements with others at trial); Parker v. Malletts Bay Boat Club, Inc., 2010 AMC 2518 (D. Vt. 2010) (Paul and Michael persuaded the court to apply admiralty law, and pure comparative fault, in a case involving an injury on a yacht club tender on Lake Champlain); In re Dayco, Inc., No. 07-061-I (Vermont Department of Banking, Insurance, Securities, and Health Care Administration) (reversing a Vermont Worker's Compensation Appeals Board decision that had misclassified workers, thus increasing Paul's client's worker's compensation premiums); Robinson v. Springfield Hosp., File No. 1:09-CV-75, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10160 (D. Vt. February 5, 2010) (where Michael and Paul obtained a ruling compelling hospital employees to testify over the hospital's assertion of the peer review privilege); Fine Paints of Eur., Inc. v. Acadia Ins. Co., Case No. 2:08-cv-81, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24188 (D. Vt. March 24, 2009) (where Paul and Michael obtained an order compelling an insurer to defend their client in a claim for property damage to a historic property); Nichols v. Brattleboro Retreat, 2009 VT 4, 185 Vt. 313, 970 A.2d 1249 (where Michael and Paul obtained a new trial in a medical malpractice case as the result of the defendant's failure to present expert testimony in open court). 

Paul interrupted college to serve as a Navy diver. After his military service, Paul returned to college and went on to graduate with double majors and academic awards and then attended law school where he competed in mock trial and moot court competitions, was published, represented the law school in a national mock trial competition and, under Vermont's law student internship rule, sat second chair in attempted murder and other trials. After graduating, Paul maintained a vigorous trial practice in the criminal and juvenile courts of Vermont and then joined Plante & Hanley, P.C. where he began representing plaintiffs in personal injury cases while also practicing in the areas of insurance defense, subrogation and insurance bad faith for a Fortune 100 insurer.