Quantock, Cristina Segui

Since entering private practice in 1980, Peter DePaolis has worked exclusively on behalf of people who are injured as a result of defective products, construction site accidents, automobile collisions, medical malpractice, as well as workers' compensation injuries. A large part of his practice has been devoted to representing people who suffer lung injuries as a result of exposure to asbestos products and other harmful substances. Mr. DePaolis has led his law firm's fight against the asbestos industry and has since 1980 recovered over $30 million in damages against the asbestos industry on behalf of workers injured by defective asbestos products. Early in his career, Peter DePaolis won the landmark case of Wilson vs. Johns Manville, which established the right of all asbestos victims in the District of Columbia to file two separate claims for asbestos disease, one for asbestosis and a second claim for a subsequently diagnosed cancer. The Wilson decision has been followed by various courts throughout the country and has led to successful recoveries on behalf of many families throughout the country who suffered the ravages of an asbestos induced cancer.

Mr. DePaolis has also represented a large number of clients who suffered serious injuries as a result of automobile and truck collisions in Virginia and throughout the District of Columbia metropolitan area. In addition, he has successfully litigated a case on behalf of a blind passenger who fell from a subway platform. Evidence in this case established that the subway driver negligently failed to keep the train from moving after the victim had fallen to the tracks, thereby killing him. Mr. DePaolis has also successfully handled a number of significant medical malpractice cases and has recovered compensation for families who have suffered injuries as a result of negligent acts of hospitals, doctors, and other health care providers. Mr. DePaolis has also represented hundreds of people in various workers' compensation claims in both Virginia and the District of Columbia.

Prior to joining the law firm in 1980, Mr. DePaolis was a Judicial Law Clerk to the Honorable William E. Stewart, Jr., in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. Thereafter, he served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of Columbia for three years from 1977-1980. Mr. DePaolis is extremely active in a number of bar associations, having served in a number of capacities, including as President of the Fairfax Bar Association. He is a member of both the Virginia Trial Lawyers as well as the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, the Virginia Bar Association, the Virginia State Bar, as well as the District of Columbia Bar Association and The Bar Association of the District of Columbia.

Mr. DePaolis was born in Hartford, CT, and graduated as a Phi Beta Kappa Scholar from Lafayette College in 1971. He served for two years as a Lieutenant in the United States Army from 1971-1973. After discharge from active duty, he attended the George Washington University Law Center where he graduated in 1976, having received recognition as an Order of the Coif Scholar. Mr. DePaolis is active in a number of civic associations in the Northern Virginia area, and has coached his children in the West Springfield Little League and Burke Soccer Club for more than 10 years. He is married to Karen Crist DePaolis and has 4 children.