(1935 - 1993)
Paul Pratt practiced law on the belief that injured workers deserve the best representation and deserve to receive the largest verdict or settlement for their injury. He had a reputation as an aggressive and pugnacious fighter for working men and women. He was sought out by past clients and their associates to represent them in FELA cases. The course Paul would pursue over his career made him a pioneer in the area of FELA law and he established a history of successfully fighting for the rights of railroad employees as well as personal injury accident victims.
The case that brought Paul to the attention of the Inner Circle was his 1976 FELA case against the Illinois Central Gulf Railroad Co. in which he received a verdict of $1.5 million. The case went on to settle for $1.2 million following denial of a defense motion for new trial.
In 1982 Paul received a plaintiffs' verdict on behalf of 47 railroad workers exposed to dioxin in a case where liability was tried prior to each plaintiff's case for damages which was argued separately. After a liability verdict, Paul would present the next plaintiff's case. The procedure was unusual because the jury deliberated on one plaintiff at a time and would come out, announce their verdict, and then hear argument on the next one and return to deliberate. The individual verdicts ranged from $1,950.00 to $300,000.00 reaching a total of $57,965.000. Another unique feature of this case was the railroad appealed and ultimately all of the verdicts and cases were dismissed with prejudice over an issue that was legally fatal.
Paul died on April 2, 1993 at 58 years of age.
