After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania where I helped run the radio station WXPN-FM and worked as a technician at the Annenberg Center of Performing Arts, I worked as an apprentice at a theater in Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park, learned carpentry, design, and stage management, and went on to design, build, and stage manage a couple of pretty lackluster stage productions in Philadelphia and at the Whiskey-A-Go-Go in Los Angeles.
For the next couple of years I lived in New York City and worked as a stage manager on productions around the country and off-Broadway. The Manhattan Theater Club, a non-profit theatrical producing organization, hired me to become its production manager where I helped produce about 60 plays and musicals — some were big successes, most weren’t. After that, the Directors Guild of America accepted me into its Assistant Director Training Program and I went on to work as an assistant director on movies, television shows, and commercials overseeing 50 to 800 people per day movie sets — usually on the streets of New York City.
I decided to make a big career jump and applied to law school. Loyola Law School in Los Angeles accepted me, and after doing pretty well my first year — despite making a television movie with a 10 year old Drew Barrymore in Natchez, Mississippi in the midst of my final exams — the University of Southern California Law Center accepted me and I received my law degree. While at USC, I served as the managing editor of the Environmental Law Journal and worked as a judicial extern for United States District Court Judge Alicemarie Stotler in Los Angles.
I returned to Philadelphia when the law firm Drinker Biddle and Reath hired me. I worked there for ten years and then worked at another Philadelphia law firm, Pelino and Lentz, where I became a partner, for another ten years. I lost my job during the 2008-09 recession and started my own company, Paul R. Fitzmaurice, P.C., which has now been operating for more than a decade.
During my days in the theater, movie industry, and law, I’ve had the good fortune of working with some very smart and talented people, whose attention to detail inspires me to this day. I’m diligent, work extremely hard on my clients’ behalf, and it’s a privilege to be able to help people.
Throughout my 30 year career as a lawyer, I’ve fought for underdogs, individuals, and businesses, taking on larger and much more powerful foes and law firms. If you’re fighting an uphill legal battle, let me know if I can help you.
