Paul W. Painter III founded Bowen Painter Trial Lawyers with the purpose of building a personal and trusting relationship with his clients, providing them with high-quality, aggressive, and ethical representation.
As a personal injury attorney in Savannah, Atlanta, throughout the state of Georgia, and around the country, Paul has devoted his practice to representing victims of serious injury as well as families who have lost loved ones due to other’s negligence. Paul is a Savannah native and a graduate of Benedictine Military School. He received his B.B.A. from the University of Georgia and his J.D. from Mercer University Walter F. George School of Law.
Between college and law school, Paul served five years as a Surface Warfare Officer in the U.S. Navy, attaining the rank of Lieutenant. He deployed in support of Operation Noble Eagle, Operation Enduring Freedom, and participated in the initial invasion of Iraq.
Paul spent four years on sea duty, becoming qualified on all systems of two blue water ships and numerous small crafts. He stood engineering watches for diesel, gas turbine, and steam engines and was a leader in damage control operations. But his passion and where he spent most of his time was on bridge watch. He was qualified on all positions from helmsman to Officer of the Deck, which is the senior most topside watch officer position with control of the ship in the captain’s absence. He was an instructor for junior officers on the COLREGs Rules of the Road, navigation, and seamanship. He served as navigator and circumnavigated the globe, crossing the equator and the prime meridian (once at the same time).
He was also on both ship’s Visit Board Search and Seizure teams, responsible for boarding other vessels that were in distress or under suspicion of carrying contraband. The training and experience for that job made him familiar with the operations of civilian commercial vessels and how to tell when a vessel was properly and safely maintained, and when it was not.
After law school, Paul began practicing at a defense firm in Savannah where he focused on tractor-trailer litigation. Realizing that he preferred individual representation, he left to work with some of the state’s top plaintiff firms before opening his own firm.
Paul has represented clients in many multi-million dollar cases throughout the state of Georgia and around the country. He has tried cases nationwide, from coast to coast, and obtained hundreds of millions of dollars for his clients in verdicts and settlements. He has spoken frequently at legal seminars and lawyer education workshops throughout the state. He specializes in in various practice areas such as car accident, slip and fall, wrongful death, truck accidents, and other distinct legal matters.
In 2023, Paul was appointed by the Georgia Supreme Court to act as a Special Master in attorney discipline cases. When the State Bar of Georgia brings an action against an attorney, often seeking the attorney be suspended or disbarred, a Special Master acts as a judge in the case. Special Masters preside over a docket of cases on which they holds hearings, controls scheduling, rules on motions, acts as the finder of fact in evidentiary hearings, and ultimately issues a report to the Supreme Court – which has exclusive authority to decide attorney discipline – recommending what action should be taken. Only about 20 lawyers in the State of Georgia are appointed as Special Masters.
Paul believes in staying involved in professional and community organizations. He is member of the State Bar of Georgia’s Board of Governor and is President of the Southern District of Georgia Federal Bar Association. He is a graduate of Leadership Savannah and the State Bar of Georgia Leadership Academy. He is the past president of the Savannah Trial Lawyers Association, past-Chair of State Bar of Georgia’s General Practice and Trial Section, the Bar’s largest section, past executive committee member and regional vice president of the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association, and past member of Mercer Law School Alumni Association Board of Directors. He is also a Fellow of the State Bar of Georgia and serves on numerous State Bar Committees.
Paul is married to Stephanie Painter (nee Boaen) and has three young children. He is a member of St. James Church in Savannah and serves on the St. James Catholic School Advisory Board and the Dutch Island Homeowners Association. He is an avid boater and saltwater fisherman, enjoys bird hunting with his four bird dogs, and loves watching his alma mater (and back to back national champion) Georgia Bulldogs play football.