Christina M. Paul is a trusted advisor to clients, providing strategic guidance on legal and business issues for companies of all types across the globe, with particular emphasis on the maritime, transportation, and hospitality industries. With a wealth of experience handling complex business challenges, clients turn to Christina to develop practical solutions tailored to their operations. She counsels clients, including middle market companies, and provides practical insights to help mitigate business and litigation risk, drawing from her experience as a partner in the Energy, Infrastructure, and Resources and Litigation and Dispute Resolution practice groups.
Christina has spent over twenty years advising clients in the recreational marine industry on a variety of issues, including new product development, compliance and regulatory issues, boating safety, and vendor and product liability disputes. On 14 August 2021, Christina was appointed by the United States Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, to be a Representative on the National Boating Safety Advisory Committee, where she provides the viewpoint of recreational vessel and associated equipment manufacturers on a variety of safety initiatives and planning in the recreational marine industry. She also serves as the Vice Chair of the American Boat and Yacht Council (ABYC)—a non-profit member organization that develops standards for the design, construction, maintenance, and repair of recreational boats—and the Chair of the National Marine Manufacturers Association’s (NMMA) Boating Industry Risk Management Council.
Christina also represents clients in the hospitality and transportation sectors of the market, where she serves as lead trial counsel to a publicly traded transportation carrier on various types of industry related disputes. Christina has successfully litigated claims involving multi-million dollar damages resulting from catastrophic injuries.
Christina has been recognized as a standout by her peers in publications including: Florida Legal Elite, Florida Super Lawyers, and South Florida Legal Guide. She also is an AV Preeminent®-rated lawyer, which is the highest available rating given by Martindale Hubble for legal ability and professional ethics.
Prior to joining the firm, Christina was in private practice in Miami, Florida, where she developed extensive experience handling complex product liability litigation.
- Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® 2023 for work in Admiralty and Maritime Law
- South Florida Legal Guide – Top Lawyers: 2021
- Top Lawyers in South Florida: 2021
- 2020 AV Preeminent Attorney, 28 August 2020
- 2020 Top Lawyers in South Florida, 1 April 2020
- AV Preeminent 2020 Lawyers.com, 1 March 2020
- 2020 AV Preeminent Attorney - Judicial Edition, 1 March 2020
- 2020 AV Preeminent Attorney, 15 October 2019
- America’s Most Honored Professionals 2019 - Top 1%, 1 May 2019
- Top Lawyers in South Florida 2019, 1 April 2019
- 2019 AV Preeminent Attorney - Judicial Edition, 1 March 2019
- AV Preeminent 2019 Lawyers.com, 19 February 2019
- 2019 AV Preeminent Attorney, 1 October 2018
- America’s Most Honored Professionals 2018 - Top 1%, 1 May 2018
- 2018 AV Preeminent Attorney - Judicial Edition, 1 March 2018
- PPR AV Preeminent 2018 Lawyers.com, 1 December 2017
- 2018 AV Preeminent Attorney, 1 October 2017
- America’s Most Honored Professionals 2017 - Top 5%, 1 April 2017
- 2017 AV Preeminent Attorney - Judicial Edition, 1 March 2017
- 2017 AV Preeminent Attorney, 3 October 2016
- America’s Most Honored Professionals 2016 - Top 1%, 1 April 2016
- Florida Legal Elite: 2016
- America’s Most Honored Professionals 2015 - Top 1%, 1 February 2015
- America’s Most Honored Professionals 2014 - Top 5%, 16 August 2011
- Martindale Hubbell AV® Preeminent- rated lawyer
- Recipient of 2015 American Boat and Yacht Council (ABYC) Horizon Award
- Daily Business Review - Top 40 Lawyers Under 40: 2014
- Florida Legal Elite - Up and Comers: 2013
- South Florida Legal Guide - Top Up & Comers: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016
- South Florida Legal Guide - Top Lawyers: 2018
- Selected to Florida Rising Stars list: 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015
- Top Attorneys - Florida’s Outstanding Young Lawyers: 2013
- Representative, National Boating Safety Advisory Council
- Vice Chair, American Boat and Yacht Council
- Chairman, Boating Industry Risk Management Council
- Defense Research Institute, Product Liability Committee
- National Marine Manufacturers Association
- Phi Delta Phi
- The Florida Bar
- Dade County Bar Association
- Speaker, “How to make your survey reports defensible through application of ABYC standards” Sur-Tech Virtual Seminar, January, 2021
- Christina Paul spoke at the Marine Law Symposium held in New Orleans, LA on Jan 7, 2020. Christina addressed an audience of over 100 attendees regarding the defenses of a complex products case involving a boat fire.
- Christina Paul spoke at the NMMA Annual Compliance Seminar on December 10, 2019. Christina addressed engineers and compliance individuals from the recreational marine industry sharing with them the concepts of record retention and litigation management.
- Speaker, American Boat and Yacht Council Marine Law Symposium, Charleston, South Carolina, April 2018
- Speaker, American Boat and Yacht Council Marine Law Symposium, Charleston, South Carolina, January 2017
- Speaker, American Boat and Yacht Council Regional Marine Training Seminar, Port Jefferson, New York, April 2016
- Speaker, “Navigating Expert Discovery,” Knox Marine Seminar, Dania Beach, Florida, February 2015
- Speaker, “BIRMC Record Retention Guidelines,” National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA), Nashville, Tennessee, December, 2013
- Speaker, “Marine Product Liability and Warranty Litigation,” International Association of Marine Investigators, Isle of Palms, South Carolina, February, 2013
- Speaker, “Marine Product Liability and Warranty Litigation, How We Remain Strong in the Wake of Fault-Finding Consumer Expectations,” International Boatbuilders Exhibition and Conference, (IBEX) Louisville, Kentucky, October, 2012
- Speaker, “A Survey of Trends in Product Liability and Warranty Law,” Knox Marine Seminar, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, February, 2012
Quoted In
- “Fire, explosions and other thermal events,” Trade Only Today, 10 October 2019
- “Lawyers, boats and money,” Trade Only Today, 22 August 2018
Publications
- "ABYC expands membership to insurance companies, law firms," Boating Industry, 22 July 2014
Published Cases
- Elton Scatliffe v. Mercury Marine Prods. & Servs., et al., 206 So.3d 714, Case No. 3D15-2781 (Fla. 3d DCA Nov. 2, 2016).
- Daytona Tourist Charter Corp. v. Broward Services Ltd., Not Reported in F.Supp.2d, 2012 WL 3042992, S.D.Fla., July 25, 2012 (NO. 12-20221-CIV)
- Seven Seas Cruises S. De R.L. v. V. Ships Leisure Sam, Not Reported in F.Supp.2d, 2011 WL 772902, S.D.Fla., February 28, 2011 (NO.09-23411-CIV)
- Thomas v. Bombardier Recreational Products, Inc., Not Reported in F.Supp.2d, 2010 WL 2731416, M.D.Fla., July 9, 2010 (NO. 2:07-CV-73OFTM29SPC)
- Clear Marine Ventures, Ltd. v. Brunswick Corp., Not Reported in F.Supp.2d, 2010 WL 528477, S.D.FIa., February 11, 2010 (NO. 08-22418-CIV)
- Thomas v. Bombardier Recreational Products, Inc., 682 F.Supp.2d 1297, 2010 WL 326113, M.D.Fla., January 21, 2010 (NO. 207-CV-730-FTM-29SPC)
- Federal Ins. Co. v. Brunswick Family Boat, Co., Inc., Not Reported in F.Supp.2d, 2007 WL 3286846, M.D.Fla., November 5, 2007 (NO. 8:07-CV-1237-T30MSS)
- Lady Di Fishing Team, LLC v. Brunswick Corp., Not Reported in F.Supp.2d, 2007 WL 3202715, 2008 A.M.C. 215, M.D.Fla., October 29, 2007 (NO. 307CV402J33TEM)
- FWF, Inc. v. Detroit Diesel Corp., 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 48953 (S.D. Fla. June 23, 2007)
Pro Hac Admissions
- California
- Colorado
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Massachusetts
- Missouri
- Nevada
- New Jersey
- New York
- South Carolina
- "ABYC expands membership to insurance companies, law firms," Boating Industry, 22 July 2014
- “Coast Guard Announces Appointments To National Boating Safety Advisory Committee,” www.tradeonlytoday.com; boatingindustry.com; NMMA
