Warren Paboojian
About Warren Paboojian
Warren R. Paboojian was born and raised in Fresno, California. He earned his bachelor's degree from California State University, Fresno, in 1980 and his Juris Doctorate from San Joaquin College of Law, where he was editor of the law school newspaper, The Dicta. He was admitted to practice law in 1987. In 2011, he was inducted into the San Joaquin College of Law Hall of Fame for outstanding trial advocacy. Mr. Paboojian practices personal injury law with a focus on catastrophic injury, wrongful death, and wrongful termination. He has litigated over 55 jury trials to verdict in Fresno County and throughout California, obtaining 9 verdicts exceeding $1 million in the past 12 years and more than $500 million total in verdicts and settlements. In 2008, the Consumer Attorneys of California named him Trial Lawyer of the Year for the state. In 2017, he received the Cal-ABOTA Trial Lawyer of the Year award. In 2021, he obtained the Number 1 Professional Malpractice Verdict in the United States in Merlo v. American Ambulance ($49.8 million). He is president emeritus of the San Joaquin Valley Chapter of ABOTA, a former Board of Directors member for the Fresno County Bar Association, and the founder of Departed Angels, a non-profit that assists parents who have lost children untimely.
Notable case results
A Fresno County jury awarded $49.8 million to a Kingsburg mortgage broker left in a permanent vegetative state after an American Ambulance paramedic dislodged his breathing tube during transport and could not restore his airway.
A Fresno County jury awarded women's basketball coach Stacy Johnson-Klein $19.1 million against California State University, Fresno, then the largest employment verdict against a public entity in U.S. history, for sex discrimination, sexual harassment, and retaliation; the case settled for $9 million after post-trial motions reduced the award.
A Fresno County jury found that Chipotle fabricated a theft allegation against a high-performing general manager to mask retaliation for a workers' compensation claim, awarding her $7.97 million in one of California's top employment verdicts of 2018.
A Fresno County jury returned an $800,000 verdict for Veronica Ordaz Gonzalez and her boyfriend after sheriff's deputies entered their home without a warrant and shot and killed their dog, Scooby; the Fifth District Court of Appeal later upheld the award.
The City of Fresno paid $500,000 to resolve a civil rights lawsuit after bodycam footage and an independent police auditor confirmed that an officer's repeated punches to a 17-year-old bystander exceeded department policy.
Merlo v. American Ambulance, medical malpractice, Number 1 Professional Malpractice Verdict in the United States in 2021
Stacy Johnson-Klein v. California State University Fresno, employment case, largest employment verdict against a public entity in the United States in 2007
Jane Doe & John Doe v. Concrete Pumping Truck Company, wrongful death
O'Connor v. Landells Aviation, helicopter crash wrongful death
Ortiz v. Chipotle Mexican Grill, defamation and discrimination
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case is unique and depends on its own facts.
