Paul F. McEllistrem
952.544.5501
pmcellistrem@mcfarg.com
952.544.5501
pmcellistrem@mcfarg.com
Legal Assistant: Katie Gohman – kgohman@mcfarg.com
To schedule ADR: Molly Kovash – mkovash@mcfarg.com
Paul attended the University of Minnesota where he received an undergraduate degree in economics in 1989. He worked his way through college at a golf course, as a soccer referee and as a janitor at Williams Arena. Paul moved back across the river for law school attending William Mitchell Law School (now Mitchell Hamline) where he graduated Cum Laude in 1994 – having clerked full time all the way through school.
Paul was sworn into the Minnesota Bar in 1994 and has practiced as a plaintiff’s personal injury lawyer ever since. He has tried a lot of cases to verdict – in both Minnesota and Wisconsin – winning some and losing some – but no longer feeling the need to keep track. He is certified by the Minnesota State Bar Association as a Civil Trial Specialist.
In 2016, Paul received the Minnesota Lawyer Attorney of the Year Award for a $5.6 million jury verdict he obtained for a client attacked in her home by a day laborer. He also successfully represented several victims of the 35W Bridge Collapse and earned the Minnesota State Bar Association’s Professional Excellence Award for those efforts in 2009. He was appointed by the Minnesota Supreme Court to serve two terms on the No-Fault Standing Committee (2006-2014) and has taught No-Fault Insurance Law at Mitchell Hamline as an adjunct professor since 1998.
Paul has authored law review publications on automobile insurance coverage for the Mitchell Hamline Law Review and is co-editor of the Minnesota Motor Vehicle Accident Deskbook. He began doing mediations and arbitrations as a neutral in 2007 and quickly learned that this kind of work was just as hard as representing his personal injury clients. Paul now divides his time evenly – spending half his time on mediations and arbitrations and the other half representing injured people with personal injury claims.
Paul’s favorite activities are vacationing in state and national parks with his wife and four children, and all things sports – mostly coaching and watching now.