Practice Areas
- Appellate
- Corporate
- Insurance Defense
- Litigation
- Real Estate
Admissions
- California
Paul D. Hesse
Of Counsel
Mr. Hesse has practiced law for over 41 years, both as litigation partner of large regional and national law firms and as Director of law departments at a large national insurance company. For 18 years as a trial and litigation attorney, Mr. Hesse represented professionals in malpractice actions (attorneys, accountants, insurance agents, real estate agents, securities brokers, etc.), and he represented businesses and insurance companies in litigation and trial. After private practice, Mr. Hesse assumed management responsibilities at a large national insurance company and its affiliates. He created a new in-house law department consisting of a team of attorneys who advised and counseled all lines of insurance business nationally on coverage issues, examinations under oath, litigation and trials, underwriting, agency issues, and real estate mortgages. He also served as a director of a law department that supervised all insurance breach of contract and bad faith actions against the insurer and its affiliates and agents as to all lines of business. The role involved oversight of all bad faith litigation nationally. A key function was to serve as legal counsel providing advice on claims handling, potential litigation exposure, preparing executives for depositions including attending the depositions, retaining and overseeing outside counsel and expert consultants, and advising on a variety of legal issues relevant to the structure and operation of the business.
Mr. Hesse was a law professor at Glendale University College of Law until the school closed in 2023, teaching Real Property, Real Estate Finance, and Insurance law courses. Mr. Hesse has also taught at UCLA’s paralegal program, served as a Judge Pro Tem for the Los Angeles municipal court, served on the ethics committee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, served as a law professor at San Fernando School of Law, presented at numerous continuing education programs for attorneys, and has been recognized for editorial insights in the preface of a law school casebook on Property.
- J.D. University of Santa Clara, School of Law (1983) ; BS, Business Administration, University of Nevada (1980)
- California State Bar Association
- Appellate Counsel in
- TIG Ins. Co. v. ML Direct 79 Cal. App.4th (2000)
- Bockrath v. Aldrich Chem Co., 21 Cal 4th 71 (1999)
- Kelly v. New West Fed. Sav. & Loan Assn, 49 Cal.App.4th (1996)
