Paul Austin Hoffman

Paul Austin Hoffman

1.2
Rating: 7.5

Licensed for 37 years

Litigation Lawyer at Santa Ana, CA
Practice Areas: Litigation, Appeals, Constitutional, Debt Collection

1851 E. First Street, Suite 1255, Santa Ana, CA

About Paul

Practice Areas

4

Practice Areas

Litigation 85%

I handle all varieties of civil litigation, including most disputes involving businesses, shareholders, partners, contracts, fraud, unfair competition, trade secrets, probate, trusts, trademark infringement, copyright infringement, and many other types of disputes.

37 years | 500 cases

85%
Appeals 5%

I have authored or co-authored many appellate briefs both for the appealing party and the responding party as well as amicus curiae (friend of the court) briefs in many business litigation cases as well as high profile constitutional law cases. I am admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal for the 9th Circuit, the Court of Appeal for the Federal Circuit, the Supreme Court of Utah, and the Supreme Court of California.

37 years | 40 cases

5%
Constitutional 5%

I represent non-profit 501(c)(3) corporations in defending freedom of speech and freedom of association, including high profile cases involving university clubs and the Boy Scouts of America.

37 years | 40 cases

5%
Debt Collection 5%

I represent companies in collecting debts, obtaining judgments against fraudulent transferees, entering sister state judgments, etc.

29 years | 40 cases

5%

Fees and Rates

Cost

Free Consultation

$0 first 60 minutes

Hourly Rates

$ 300-350 per hour


Payment Methods

  • Check
  • Credit Card

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Licenses

Licensed in California for 35 years

State: California

Acquired: 1990

Active

No misconduct found

Licensed in Utah for 37 years

State: Utah

Acquired: 1988

Active

No misconduct found

Location

Greenwald & Hoffman, LLP

1851 E. First Street, Suite 1255, Santa Ana, CA, 92705

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Paul Austin Hoffman's Reviews

Avvo Review Score

1.2 /5.0

5 Client Reviews

5 star (0)
4 star (0)
3 star (0)
2 star (1) 1 star (4)

Posted by Pearl | May 6, 2025 | Hired Attorney

This review is from a person who hired this attorney.

Overbill

Tremendous overbill and didn't do any cross complaint like he promised he would to stop the litigation. I should have trusted former reviews.

Posted by Dirk | August 1, 2022 | Consulted Attorney

This review is from a potential client who consulted with this attorney.

Clients include White Supremacist's?

I interviewed a member of this firm and came to the understanding that my values do not align to this firms or that of its founder. It is my understanding that this firm defends, represents or seeks to protect the "far white" or what an average person would consider to be a "white supremacists". If y...ou believe in "country before party" or "country before skin-color" I would steer clear of this firm.

Posted by anonymous | August 1, 2011

Heavy Billing and Petty lawyer

was a client of Greenwald & Hoffman (Paul Evan Greenwald and Paul Austin Hoffman) of Santa Ana CA for approx. 3 years. They represented several entities that I had some involvement with, and they represented me and my family as well. We treated them well, and referred paying clients to them. They aba...ndoned me last minute during discovery, but not after billing me close to $40k for a case that settled for a fraction of this amount - not as a result of their work, which was in my and my new attorney's view minimal. Then, they sued me for their fees after the statute of limitations expired. This is shameful behavior. i am not posting my name out of concern for retribution, which both of Greenwald and Hoffman have threatened.

Posted by NRG Resources, Inc. | July 20, 2011

Greenwald & Hoffman Not Recommended

NRG Resources, Inc. engaged Greenwald & Hoffman LLP of Santa Ana, CA in connection with various legal disputes including a lawsuit against several former executives and consultants, who also counter-sued our company. Paul E. Greenwald and Paul A. Hoffman urged us to switch from Sheppard Mullin, a la...rge law firm that had been representing us in this and other litigation matters together with Greenberg & Traurig. Several weeks before trial, a dispute developed between us and Paul E. Greenwald and Paul A. Hoffman regarding the amount of their bills, which we believed were excessive. It was a very stressful time for our company. Indeed, even though we had paid Greenwald & Hoffman high six figures in fees, they threatened to withdraw from the case only a few weeks before trial if we did not pay them in full their latest bill. They followed through on the threat, and left us only a few weeks before trial. By doing so Paul Greenwald and Paul Hoffman put our company and us in an extremely difficult and uncertain position, and we had to scramble to find a lawyer on the eve of trial to save our case. To add insult to injury, Greenwald and Hoffman then sued us for fees they alleged we still owed, but waited until after the statute of limitations for professional malpractice expired presumably in order to avoid the possibility of getting sued by us. Although some aspects of the service Greenwald & Hoffman provided were adequate, we believe that Greenwald & Hoffman turned out to be more expensive than the big firms we had relied on in the past. The bottom line is that the value to benefit ratio did not work for us with Greenwald & Hoffman. Overall we did not have a good experience with Paul E. Greenwald and Paul A. Hoffman of Greenwald & Hoffman. We were not pleased with the value or results, and we would not recommend them.

Paul Hoffman

Replied last July 21, 2011

This is a posting by a former disgruntled client who owed us money and did not want to pay it. I cannot comment on the specifics of the cases we handled for them because of the attorney/client privilege, but I can say that what is being said above is not true. We do not overbill. Also, we put them in a strong position to win their case, which saved them a lot of money, because of the work we did for them before we withdrew.

Posted by Ron | July 5, 2011

Paul Hoffman Zero Personality Overbilling

Our Company hired Greenwald & Hoffman for partnership dispute. Most of the work was delegated to Paul Hoffman, who is Paul Greenwald's partner in this two lawyer Santa Ana law firm partnership. Paul Hoffman had a difficult time relating to the issues, and a great deal of communication was with Gree...nwald. This was awkward. I cannot say that Hoffman was inexperienced, but we were billed 30% higher than the amount in dispute. Economically this made no sense, and I felt that Paul Hoffman overlawyered this matter. I learned that Greenwald & Hoffman were sued several times by former clients, and can imagine why.

Paul Hoffman

Replied last July 21, 2011

This comment is entirely false. This is not a description of a client that I ever had. It would be nice if he or she identified himself, but I suspect that is not being done because this person knows the accusation is not true and is just trying to defame me. This is probably a lawsuit opponent who is angry about the result of his or her case and is retaliating because he or she does not know what else to do.

See All Client Reviews

Paul Austin Hoffman's Lawyer Endorsements

Endorse Paul
Glen Nuttall headshot
Glen Nuttall

Litigation lawyer | Apr 12

Relationship: Friend

"I've known Paul Hoffman for several years, and have gotten to know him well on both a personal and a professional level. Paul is a creative and dedicated lawyer who demonstrates genuine care and concern for his clients and friends. I am pleased to endorse him."

Desiree J Nordstrom headshot
Desiree Nordstrom

Unknown lawyer | Dec 17

Relationship: Fellow lawyer in community

"I endorse this lawyer."

David Christopher Baker headshot
David Baker

Litigation lawyer | Jun 08

Relationship: Worked together on matter

"Paul Hoffman is one of the hardest working, most diligent, and intuitive attorneys I ahve ever known. He is excellent at his craft and takes tremendous pride in his representation of clients. I have never heard an unkind thing about Paul and cannot imagine that any client would be less than pleased with his work product and representaton. I give him my highest rating and complete endorsement."

View All Endorsements
David Christopher Baker headshot
David Baker

Litigation lawyer

Experience

Rating:  7.5 (Very Good)

Honors

2015

AV Preeminent 5.0 out of 5 Peer Review Rated, Martindale-Hubbell

1988

Graduated Cum Laude, J. Reuben Clark Law School

Work Experience

2006 - Present

Partner, Greenwald & Hoffman, LLP

2001 - 2005

Associate attorney, Paul E. Greenwald & Associates

1999 - 2001

Associate attorney, Dracup & Patterson

1991 - 1999

Associate attorney, Berman, Blanchard, Mausner & Kindem

1990 - 1991

Associate attorney, Johnson & Poulsen

1989 - 1989

Associate attorney, Watkiss & Campbell

1988 - 1989

Law Clerk, Utah Supreme Court

Associations

2008 - 2011

BYU Management Society--Orange County Chapter

Member of Board

2001 - 2017

J. Reuben Clark Law Society

Various leadership positions

Education

N/A

Brigham Young Univ J Reuben Clark LS UT

law

N/A

Brigham Young Univ

undergraduate

Languages

English

Spanish

Avvo Rating

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