Paul V.  Melodia

Paul V.  Melodia is a San Francisco native who obtained both his undergraduate and legal education at the University of California Berkeley.  A 1964 graduate of Boalt Hall School of Law, Paul finished in the top 5% of his law school class and was inducted into the Order of the Coif.

Following three years of military service in the Army Judge Advocate General Corps, he took a job with the Walkup law office and is now the senior member of the firm.  Paul is recognized as one of the deans of Northern California trial lawyers, with a wealth of experience representing people with severe burn injuries.

Mr.  Melodia is a veteran of hundreds of trials and arbitrations, and has been a pioneer in affixing liability on negligent corporations.  In the field of automobile crashworthiness and product liability, he was one of the first attorneys to successfully prosecute a fuel-fed fire claim against an American car manufacturer when the driver and three passengers were incinerated in the cab of a Chevrolet truck.  More recently, he obtained a high seven-figure settlement for the death of a husband and child in an explosion which occurred at a ski resort in the Sierras.  Over his forty year career he has handled numerous major burn injury cases from such causes as exploding chemical containers, faulty water heaters, classroom chemistry experiments, and the misdirected release of hot steam.

A member of numerous professional organizations and honor societies, Paul is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, a Diplomate of the American Board of Trial Advocates, a Fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, and has been listed among the "Best Lawyers in America" for more than a decade.  He is a founding father and former president of Northern California's first American Inn of Court chapter, and was one of the top 10 vote receivers in the Northern California Super Lawyers balloting in 2006.  In a survey performed by the San Francisco Chronicle Magazine in 2003, Paul was the only Personal Injury Specialist to be recognized as one of the top 25 lawyers in the Bay Area.

At age 67, Paul is still handling a full case load and is regularly trying and arbitrating cases.  For the last 10 years he has served as the President of the law firm and has been a member of the firm's Executive Committee since 1986.