The Champion of the Underdog TM, J. Paul Gignac represents victims of civil wrongdoing visited upon them by large corporations. His clients include victims of defective products, victims of unauthorized charges in consumer class actions, victims of anti-competitive behavior, victims of environmental pollution, victims of theft of original ideas, and victims of theft of technology and trade secrets.
During a career that has spanned more than twenty-five years, Mr. Gignac has specialized primarily in representing plaintiffs in class actions filed in state and federal courts throughout the country, with an emphasis on class actions in the telecommunications, internet and technology industry sectors. During the course of his career, Mr. Gignac has also had a broad range of trial experience as he has tried numerous civil and criminal cases to verdict or judgment before judges, juries and arbitrators.
Mr. Gignac also represents clients in intellectual property and entertainment-related litigation. As part of that practice, Mr. Gignac and one of his former partners co-tried a case which, after a three-month trial in Los Angeles Superior Court, resulted in a $54 million jury verdict for their client.
Mr. Gignac received a Bachelor of Arts degree cum laude in Government from Dartmouth College and a Juris Doctor degree from the UCLA School of Law. During law school, Mr. Gignac was a member of the Federal Communications Law Journal, and he served as a judicial extern to the Honorable A. Wallace Tashima, who was then a Judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California and is presently a Judge on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Mr. Gignac is admitted to practice in the State of California. He also is admitted to practice, and has appeared before, all of the federal district courts in California. Mr. Gignac is admitted to practice before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and has argued numerous appeals before panels of the Ninth Circuit. In addition, he has been admitted on a pro hac vice basis in numerous state and federal district courts throughout the country in connection with matters which have been litigated by him outside of the State of California. Mr. Gignac also is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court.
Mr. Gignac has authored and/or co-authored numerous articles for various international, national and statewide legal publications and has spoken on a variety of legal issues at continuing legal education seminars and other programs.
Mr. Gignac is a member of the Consumer Attorneys of California (“CAOC”), the Federal Bar Association, and the Santa Barbara County Bar Association. Since 2010, Mr. Gignac has served as one of the ten court-appointed attorney members of the Local Rules Advisory Committee for the Central District of California.
Mr. Gignac is a Martindale Hubbell AV Preeminent rated attorney, which is the highest possible rating in both legal ability and ethical standards. Beginning in 2008 and for each year since then through 2016, Mr. Gignac has been recognized by his peers as a Southern California Super Lawyer, an honor reserved for the top 5% of attorneys practicing in Southern California.
Mr. Gignac is a member of the Board of Directors of the Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides financial and other assistance to the families of children afflicted with cancer. From 2013 through 2016, Mr. Gignac was the Treasurer and a member of the Board of Directors of the Dream Foundation, a Santa Barbara-based charitable organization that grants last wishes for terminally-ill adults. Mr. Gignac is also a member of MENSA.
J. Paul Gignac
