Paul Werner is a senior partner in Sheppard Mullin's Business Trial Practice Group of which he served as the Practice Group Leader for many years. He currently serves on the Firm’s Executive Committee and previously served for years on its Compensation Committee. Werner works in our Washington, DC, and New York, NY offices.
Werner is a seasoned first-chair trial and appellate litigator with a national practice and deep experience helping clients successfully navigate crises and complex federal and state civil and criminal investigations and disputes. Over the years, Werner’s representations have included world leaders, foreign sovereigns and governmental entities, Fortune 100 and 500 companies, luxury vehicle and supercar manufacturers, leading technology, video game, digital solutions, and social media firms, communications providers, private equity houses and portfolio companies, healthcare systems and providers, pharmaceutical companies, biotech firms, clinical laboratories, educational institutions, political commentators, and professional athletes.
Lawdragon Honors
| Honor | Year | Practice |
|---|---|---|
| The 2026 Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America | 2026 | Complex Litigation, inc. Class Actions |
| The 2025 Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America | 2025 | Complex Litigation, inc. Class Actions |
| The 2024 Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America | 2024 | Complex Litigation, inc. Class Actions |
| Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America | 2022 | Complex Litigation, inc. Class Actions |
Werner's prodigious representations have been before diverse decision-making authorities, including all levels of courts, arbitral and administrative tribunals, and government agencies and enforcement authorities, and spanned a wide range of complex, mass, and multi-district litigations (MDL), regulatory and enforcement proceedings, and investigations. These matters have run the gamut from “bet-the-company” commercial disputes, sprawling, existential criminal investigations, to multi-faceted and novel controversies involving federal and state statutory, constitutional, communications, energy, environmental, insurance, intellectual property, fiduciary duty, false advertising, defamation, unfair competition, trade secret, contract, copyright, privacy and data security, Committee of Foreign Investment in the United States, and administrative law issues.
Werner defends diverse public and private companies against putative class actions and MDLs, particularly those alleging claims of unfair competition, common law torts, state consumer protection statutes, products liability, and Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) violations. He has represented major automobile manufacturers against putative class actions alleging design defects and other consumer protection claims. For example, Werner successfully represented a luxury automobile manufacturer in class actions consolidated in a federal MDL as well as related state lawsuits. He also successfully represented a named defendant in a series of putative class actions consolidated in an MDL seeking billions in damages in connection with the promotion, sale, and distribution of opioid medications. And Werner successfully represented a communications provider association in defeating certification of a putative landowner class seeking damages for alleged unauthorized “telecommunications” use of utility easements at the trial and appellate levels.
Werner is currently representing a leading online marketplace in putative class actions consolidated in an MDL stemming from a highly-publicized data breach involving hundreds of millions of customers. And he has defended and is currently defending putative class actions arising under the TCPA.
Werner represents US and foreign clients in domestic and international arbitrations. Among other proceedings, Werner has represented international satellite providers and an arms manufacturer in international arbitrations, one of which The Wall Street Journal dubbed an “outer-space turf war.”
Werner represents clients in governmental and internal investigations, including civil and criminal investigations arising under federal and state health care laws, the False Claim Act, the Anti-Kickback Act, and the FCC E-Rate program. Werner recently guided a national healthcare company through far-reaching investigations by the Department of Justice, Food and Drug Administration, and Drug Enforcement Administration, which were fully resolved in 18 months with no action.
Werner represents communications and technology companies in matters involving communications law issues. He represents providers on these issues in state and federal courts and in rulemakings and adjudications before the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), state commissions, and international tribunals.
Werner regularly tries cases to judgment. In recent years, Werner has tried dozens of cases across the United States and overseas involving alleged breaches of contract, fiduciary duties, and manufacturing agreements, violations of communications laws, healthcare laws, and business torts, fraud, unfair competition, and defamation. He also recently assisted with a lengthy trial in federal court involving false advertising claims that resulted in a favorable jury verdict. And Werner routinely represents clients in appeals in state and federal appellate courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, federal and state courts of appeal, and state high courts.
Werner’s representations are regularly reported in the media, including Law360. He is also a recognized expert and frequent commenter on communications and technology law issues. He is a professor of law at Vanderbilt University Law School and teaches in the area of technology and communications law and policy.
Werner is dedicated to pro bono service and public interest litigation. He has long represented Oceana, Inc., the largest international advocacy organization focused on ocean conservation, in federal litigation arising under the Environmental Species Act as well as related administrative proceedings and advocacy. He has also long represented Trout Unlimited, which is dedicated to protecting and restoring America’s coldwater fisheries and watersheds, in environmental litigation under the Clean Water Act to protect Bristol Bay, Alaska. As part of that ongoing representation, Werner briefed and argued the federal appeal leading to a permanent federal ban on commercial mining in the Bristol Bay watershed. On behalf of a community organization, Paul successfully obtained an appellate decision overturning a trial court decision that had upheld a planning board's approval of a commercial water bottling operation in an environmentally-protected area with trailheads into the Catskill mountains.