R. Samuel Paz has presented and argued numerous reported appellate civil rights cases before the Ninth Circuit and successfully argued the case of Chavez v. Martinez in the U.S. Supreme Court.
CULVER CITY, CA, January 23, 2020 /24-7PressRelease/ -- R. Samuel Paz has been included in Marquis Who's Who. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.
Upon joining the U.S. Navy Mr. Paz witnessed up close the attitudes of superiority and racism from the recruits from southern states. Moreover, during three tours of duty overseas, he experienced considerable poverty and governmental oppression of basic freedoms in many foreign countries. These experiences along with his own humble upbringing, police harassment during high school and then being exposed to the struggles of African Americans for basic equality in the early 1960s were forming his advocacy for the rights of Americans. His personal involvement in the Chicano Movement for civil rights in the southwest and the inspirational fight of Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez for the United Farm Workers in the 1960s and 1970s made it evident that police were frequently violating the rights of peaceful advocates led him to pursue a career in civil and human rights.
In the mid-1970s, Mr. Paz began his practice as the senior partner of the Law Offices of Romero, Paz, Rodriguez, and Sanora, with whom he worked between 1975 and 1986. During this time, due to the federal civil rights law being in its neophytic stages and because lawyers traditionally had been fearful to challenge allegations of police abuse of authority there were practically no lawyers who would represent persons seeking to hold police legally accountable under the law. However, Mr. Paz believes that when injustice exists, it needs to be confronted. He became a pioneer in challenging police abuse prevailing in a 1977 lawsuit brought against an LAPD officer by Seymour A. Myerson, the first reported recovery for "politically motivated police spying" alleged to be a campaign of "fascist, terrorist" activities against him and his wife. Then he won the first civil judgement reportedly in excess of $1 million in California for the 1980 killing by a deputy sheriff of Jildardo Plasencia, a 33-year-old furniture factory worker. Thereafter followed a nation-wide record $8.75 million awarded to Adelaido Altamirano, a Coliseum groundskeeper who was shot in 1987 by a Los Angeles Police Department officer and left paralyzed from the shoulders down.
Mr. Paz is a recognized Top Attorney in Southern California in Civil Rights by Super Lawyers, and as a Top 100 litigator by the National Trial Lawyers. An expert in his field, he specializes in enforcing the federal and state constitutions in litigation of claims of police misconduct. Throughout the length of his career, he has also gained valuable expertise in teaching trial skills and law as a faculty member with the National Institute for Trial Advocacy, and as an Associate Professor at Loyola Law School and the People's College of Law in Los Angeles.
Mr. Paz earned a Bachelor of Arts, with honors in psychology, from the University of California Los Angeles in 1971 and a Doctor of Jurisprudence from the University of Southern California's Gould School of Law in 1974. Following graduation, he was admitted to practice through the California State Bar, the U.S. District Courts for the Central, Eastern and Southern Districts of California, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the Supreme Court of the United States. He has presented and argued numerous reported appellate civil rights cases before the Ninth Circuit and successfully argued the case of Chavez v. Martinez in the U.S. Supreme Court.
In order to share his expertise and remain aware of industry changes, he has affiliated himself with the National Police Accountability Project, a leading 550 member civil rights plaintiffs organization, Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles, the California Consumer Advocates Association, the California Bar Association and the Mexican American Bar Association. Regarding civic endeavors, Mr. Paz has prolifically contributed his time and resources to the American Civil Liberties Union, the Los Angeles Legal Aid Foundation and the Hispanic Advisory Council to the Los Angeles Police Commission.
With a plethora of knowledge at his disposal, Mr. Paz has penned over thirty articles for various professional journals. To wit, he has recently written "Avoid Early Dismissal of Your Claim by Pre-Filing Discovery" and "Police Use of Force: Principles and Cases." Additionally, Mr. Paz has parlayed his expertise to others in guest lecturing, presenting and panelist positions, covering such topics as "A Career in Protecting Human and Civil Rights," "Survival and Wrongful Death Damages in Section 1983 Cases" and "Fifth Amendment Coercive Interrogations and Miranda Violations."
Due to his outstanding accomplishments, Mr. Paz has frequently been recognized by members of the California state Senate and Assembly, the City of Los Angeles, the County of Los Angeles and many civic and legal organizations. Some of these are the Public Service Award for Volunteer Services Improving Police-Community relations in the City of Los Angeles, the Civil Liberties and Social Justice Award for Outstanding Contribution to Civil Rights, the Police Misconduct Lawyer Referral Service Award for Outstanding Achievement in Litigating Civil Rights Cases and Community Education on the Importance of Civil Rights and the Building Bridges of Unity Award for Significant Contributions to the Communities of Echo Park, Los Felix and Silverlake, which was given to him by the Sunset Junction Neighborhood Alliance. More recently, he was recognized for his work in advocating for the Los Angeles community and received commendations from all the members of the County of Los Angeles Board of Supervisors for dedicated service to the community, the Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. Public Service Award, which he received in 2016 and honored at Boston in 2019 for 30 years of dedicated service to the National Board of Directors of the ACLU. In the coming years, Mr. Paz intends to experience the continued growth and success of his career.
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