E. Paul Cauley Jr.

Co-chair of the class action team. He helps companies navigate, defend and solve their most complex and high-profile litigation across the country. He has successfully tried, defeated and managed high-exposure litigation for product manufacturers and other businesses across the country. His ability to grasp and effectively communicate complex technical concepts has placed him in front of courts and juries defending cases in the automotive and consumer goods industries, particularly in areas of evolving technology. Paul leads teams of class action attorneys that are regularly tapped to coordinate the defense of class action suits pending in multiple jurisdictions, and he has served as lead counsel in multidistrict litigation proceedings. This includes serving as lead defense counsel for an automaker in all litigation arising out of the Takata airbag recall, the largest in U.S. history.

Experience

• Defeated certification in putative class action asserting unfair competition law and unjust enrichment claims, Consumer Legal Remedies Act restitution, and injunctive relief claims related to clutches in several model years of sports cars. Nguyen v. Nissan North America, Inc., 487 F. Supp. 845 (N.D. Cal. 2020).
• Defeated by summary judgment the claims of all plaintiffs in class action seeking to certify a nationwide class related to vehicle transmissions. Nelson v. Nissan North America, Inc., Civ. No. 11-5712 (D.N.J. 2014).
• National counsel defending several federal putative class actions seeking to certify nationwide classes alleging odometer over-registration in violation of the Federal Odometer Act. Cases were consolidated as a federal MDL in Tennessee, and automaker granted summary judgment on all Federal Odometer Act claims in In Re: Nissan North America, Inc. Odometer Litigation, 739 F. Supp. 2d 1017 (M.D. Tenn. 2010).
• Successfully defended construction equipment manufacturer against fraud and tortious interference claim by a supplier seeking more than $60 million in damages.
• Obtained defense verdict for automaker in wrongful death case alleging absence of backup assist technology. The case was only the second of its kind to go to trial in the country and the first to include a claim that the vehicle should have been equipped with a rearview monitor.

Education

• Stephen F. Austin State University
  B.B.A. magna cum laude (1983)
• University of Houston Law Center
  J.D. magna cum laude, Order of the Coif, Law Review (1986)

 Associations

• International Association of Defense Counsel, 20-year member — Board of Directors (2013-16)
• DRI: The Voice of the Defense Bar, 30-Year Member
• Product Liability Advisory Council – Sustaining Member, 15 years
• Dallas Bar Association, 33-year Member