Gold, Norman M.

Paul Godlewski, a native of Minneapolis, knew long before he went to law school that he wanted to be a personal injury trial lawyer. Even before graduating from the North Dakota School of Law in 1973, Paul volunteered at the Legal Aid Clinic and worked with the Public Defender's Office. While in law school, Paul was appointed to the Board of Editors of the North Dakota Law Review and had two legal researched articles accepted for publication. Soon after graduation, he began his courtroom career by trying cases assigned through the public defender system, as well as representing people injured in automobile accidents.

Today Paul's practice is dedicated to representing the injured victims of automobile collisions, defective products, and poorly constructed or maintained premises. His clients include surviving family members who have suffered the wrongful death of a loved one. He represents clients from Minnesota in both State and Federal Court, bringing negligence claims for all types of injuries, minor to catastrophic, including traumatic brain injury, disfigurement, loss of limbs, paralysis, and death. Paul has also represented accident victims in many other state and federal courts.

In addition to obtaining fair compensation for his clients, Paul has helped advance the rights of injured people through his involvement in precedent setting cases in the areas of underinsured motorist coverage and products liability. One of his jury trials helped expand the law protecting unsuspecting consumers by requiring that manufacturers of defective products warn the public after the product is on the market.

Paul has seen that continued learning and shared information helps both his clients and all the injured people, and he generously shares his experience and expertise with others. He has been a long-term active participant in the Minnesota Trial Lawyers Association. Paul is frequently invited to speak at seminars for lawyers and other professionals in Minnesota and other states on topics including personal injury, products liability, wrongful death, disfigurement, traumatic brain injuries, paralysis, and jury trial courtroom tactics and techniques. He has published numerous articles for seminars and legal periodicals, and has authored chapters on specific injury-related topics. Paul has been an invited speaker with the 1998 National Convention of American Trial Lawyers Association and the National College of Advocacy.