Paul S. Rosenlund practices primarily in the area of litigation, advising and representing business clients in a variety of areas, including products liability litigation and risk management; unfair competition and commercial disputes, including international arbitration; trade secrets; trademark, copyright and patent litigation; and class actions, including consumer protection, antitrust and unfair lending issues. He serves as national or regional counsel for manufacturers and distributors and has handled dozens of jury trials around the country. He also counsels manufacturers, importers and retailers in trade regulation, franchise and distribution issues, resale price maintenance, and regarding product safety, recalls and compliance matters involving the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and its counterparts in other countries. Many of his clients are European or Asian manufacturers, investors or insurers who benefit from national or international coordination of their legal affairs.

In addition to handling individual disputes and transactions, Mr. Rosenlund develops and manages systems for efficient control and handling of claims, litigation and discovery, including e-discovery, on a national and regional basis for international and domestic clients. Closely connected with the sports and recreation and hospitality industries, Mr. Rosenlund advises hotel and resort operators in transactions and litigation matters, and he represents foreign and domestic manufacturers and distributors of products ranging from ski equipment to helmets, bicycles, in-line skates, ice skates, scuba gear, water sports, yachts and marine equipment, involving products liability, manufacturing and distribution issues, intellectual property licensing, labels and instructions, warranties, advertising and Internet commerce. A regular speaker and writer on these and related topics, he has recently spoken or written for organizations such as the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association (SGMA), the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the American Boat and Yacht Council, the Defense Research Institute (DRI) and the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA). He also serves as judge pro tempore in the courts of Nevada and Placer counties.

Although his practice primarily involves representing business interests, Mr. Rosenlund also represents deserving individuals and organizations in carefully screened plaintiffs' cases. He recently concluded representing the plaintiffs in a class action suit against a major consumer electronics company which settled for more than $200 million after the court certified a national class. He represented the plaintiffs in one of California's largest plaintiff personal injury verdicts to have withstood an appeal (nearly $30 million).

Mr. Rosenlund is a member of the American Bar Association, the Association of Ski Defense Attorneys (past president), the Bar Association of San Francisco, Consumer Attorneys of California, the Defense Research Institute (chair, Recreational Products Specialized Litigation Group), the International Bar Association, the Maritime Law Association of the United States (former chair, Subcommittee on Maritime Products Liability), and the Tahoe-Truckee Bar Association. He serves as a member of the Planning Commission of the City of Belvedere, California, and has served as a judge pro tempore in the Placer and Nevada County Superior Courts. He is a past member of the board of directors of ALFA International, a network of more than 120 law firms around the world with over 9,000 lawyers. Mr. Rosenlund is a 1979 graduate of the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, where he was Articles Editor of the Hastings Law Journal, and a graduate, with honors, of the University of California, Davis.

Representative Matters

National product liability counsel for American, Austrian, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Swiss manufacturers of ski, snowboard, cycling, scuba and climbing equipment, including helmets
Advise and represent manufacturers and importers before the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission in product hazard reporting and negotiating terms of recalls; recent engagements involved apparel, toys and sporting goods
Represented Swiss and German manufacturers in trademark licensing and trade secret dispute arbitrated before AAA
Represented French manufacturer in defense of antitrust suit involving alleged group boycott
Defense and prosecution of class actions
Represented famous Napa Valley winery in arbitration of claims involving alleged TCA (2,4,6-Trichloroanisole) contamination of wine while in cellar storage
Represented French winemakers in suit against American chemical company whose pesticides caused TCA contamination
Lead trial counsel in defending dozens of ski and snowboard liability suits, which established the primary assumption of risk defense in California; see e.g., Connelly v. Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, 39 Cal.App.4th 8, 45 Cal.Rptr.2d 855 (1995)
Successful defense of European ski equipment manufacturers in class action unfair competition suit which sought to bar the use of liability releases by ski shops; see Olsen v. Breeze, Inc., 48 Cal.App.4th 608, 55 Cal.Rptr.2d 818 (1996)
Trial counsel in successful defense of patent infringement suit involving medical devices which sought damages in excess of $80 million
Represented Hong Kong publisher in successful prosecution of copyright infringement action against American newspaper publisher
Represented Italian manufacturer of carbon fiber composite structures in successful defense of product liability suit
Developed plans and agreements for foreign product manufacturer to insulate parent company from U.S. product liability exposures
Developed plans and agreements for U.S. retailer to shift product liability risk to Asian manufacturers and their insurers
Advise retailers, importers and manufacturers regarding U.S. dealer relationships, risk shifting and warranty issues, gray market and related trade regulation issues
Represented hotel management company negotiating management agreements with project owners involving multiple properties, and in obtaining injunction to maintain status quo while transition negotiations were underway
Represented California software company in obtaining injunction to bar disclosure of trade secrets by departing employees
Won dismissal of class action suit brought against toy manufacturers by attorney group which attempted to stop Internet toy sales only days before Christmas
Plaintiff class counsel in national class action suit against major consumer electronics manufacturer which settled for more than $200 million

Professional Activities

ALFA International
- Past Director
American Bar Association
Association of Ski Defense Attorneys
- Past President
ASTM / International Standards Organization
- Member of ASTM committees F08 and F27
- American delegate to ISO Technical Committees
Bar Association of San Francisco
Consumer Attorneys of California
Defense Research Institute
- Chair, Recreational Products Specialized Litigation Group
Maritime Law Association of the United States
- Former Chair, Subcommittee on Maritime Products Liability
Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association Legal Task Force
Tahoe-Truckee Bar Association

Admissions

California
U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit
U.S. District Court, District of Hawaii
U.S. Supreme Court

Education

University of California, Hastings College of the Law, J.D., 1979
University of California, Davis, B.S., with honors, 1976

Civic and Charitable Activities

Commissioner, City of Belvedere Planning Commission
Norwegian-American Chamber of Commerce

Selected Publications

"Compendium of Business Law Issues: Unfair Competition and Deceptive Business Practices," ALFA International (author and editor), November 3, 2004 and May 5, 2005
"Once a Wicked Sister: The Continuing Role of Assumption of Risk Under Comparative Fault in California," 20 USF Law Review 225, Winter 1986
"Compulsory Licensing of Musical Compositions Under the Copyright Act of 1976," 30 Hastings Law Journal 683, January 1979

Selected Speaking Engagements

"Liability Releases in Sports Litigation," American Bar Association, Chicago, Illinois, August 6, 1995
"Product Liability Indemnity for Manufacturers and Retailers: How to Get It and How to Sell It," Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association spring market trade show, Las Vegas, June 12, 2007
Program Chair, Recreational Products Specialized Litigation Group, DRI Product Liability Seminar, New Orleans, Louisiana, February 8, 2007
"Current Issues in Ski Resort Liability," National Ski Areas Association, Marco Island, Florida, May 23, 2006
"Product Liability In Sports," Loyola Law School Sports Law Institute, Los Angeles, California, February 10, 2006
"Reporting and Recalls Involving the Consumer Product Safety Commission," Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association, Orlando, Florida, January 23, 2006
"Product Liability Deposition Training Workshop for Company Engineers and Managers," sponsored by the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association and the American Society for Testing and Materials, Reno, Nevada, May 16, 2005
"Governmental Liability Risk Reduction: CPSC Reporting and Recalls," Webinar sponsored by the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association, November 2, 2005
"Attorney-Client and Work Product Issues in Business Litigation," ALFA International Client Seminar, Boca Raton, Florida, March 10-11, 2005
"Jury Selection and Trial Presentation in Cases Involving Injured Children," Defense Research Institute Product Liability Seminar, Los Angeles, California, February 16-18, 2005
"The Role of Outside Counsel in a Risk Management Review," Defense Research Institute Product Liability Seminar, Las Vegas, Nevada, February 12, 2003
"Risk Benefit Analysis - Practical Applications Under the New Restatement," ALFA International Products Liability Conference, Atlanta, Georgia, October 10-11, 2002
"Compendium of Business Law Issues: Unfair Competition and Deceptive Business Practices," ALFA International Client Seminar, Rancho Mirage, California (author and editor), March 15-17, 2002
"Recreational Product Trial Strategies: Experts and Similar Accidents," Defense Research Institute Products Liability Conference, Los Angeles, California, February 13-15, 2002
"Nuts and Bolts of Defect Reporting and Recalls With the Consumer Product Safety Commission," Defense Research Institute Products Liability Conference, Los Angeles, California, February 13-15, 2002
"Current Litigation and Risk Management Issues Facing the Ski Industry," National Ski Areas Association Annual Meeting, La Quinta, California, May 8, 2001
"Effective Use of Extranets in Litigation Management," ALFA International Client Seminar, Amelia Island, Florida, March 30, 2001
"Discovery of Computer Databases," ALFA International Client Seminar, Amelia Island, Florida, March 30, 2001
"Maritime Law for Product Liability Lawyers," Defense Research Institute, San Francisco, California, February 8, 1996
"Assumption of Risk and Liability Releases in Sporting Goods Products Liability Litigation," Defense Research Institute, San Francisco, California, February 8, 1996
Speaker, "Importing Defective Products: Legal Risks, Preventive Measures and Defense Strategies," CLE Teleconference, September 19, 2007