Paul E. Smith is a veteran of the US Navy, having served six years as a hospital corpsman, including two years with the Marine Corps in Okinawa and Thailand. He is a graduate of San Diego State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and a graduate of UCLA School of Law with a Juris Doctor degree. At UCLA, Paul was an Editor of the prestigious UCLA Law Review journal.
After graduating from UCLA School of Law, Paul passed the California bar exam on his first attempt and went to work at Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton, one of the largest and most prestigious law firms in California. While at Sheppard Mullin, he represented large corporations such as Taco Bell, Taylor Made Golf Company, Nordstrom, and Chevron on a variety of litigation matters.
In December of 2002, Paul realized that working at a huge firm and representing huge corporations was not the type of law he wanted to practice, and he therefore left Sheppard Mullin to start his own firm representing individual consumers. He became a member of the National Association of Consumer Advocates, and began practicing in the areas of fair debt collection and fair credit reporting.
When Paul is not practicing law, he enjoy spending time with his wife and daughter, attending sporting events (Padres, Chargers, UCLA Bruins), surfing, and playing basketball.