Paul was admitted to practise as a lawyer in 1982. Paul was one of the founding partners of McCallum Donovan Sweeney and a Director of MDS Legal until its merger with Williams + Hughes in November 2025.
Paul is now a director of Williams + Hughes.
Paul has expertise in numerous areas of the law and specialises in commercial litigation, property law and trade practices law.
Paul has appeared as counsel in all major courts in Western Australia, including the Supreme Court and the Federal Court. His clients include some of Western Australia’s leading corporations and professional associations.
Paul regularly acts as counsel in high-end and complex litigation. He has specialised knowledge in small business disputes, contract litigation, equity, rural and farming law, competition and consumer law, property law, insolvency, franchising disputes, corporations law, trusts, insurance, administrative law and partnership disputes.
Paul also has extensive experience in negotiations, mediations and all forms of alternatate dispute resolution. He appreciates the value of achieving quick and decisive outcomes in all matters in which he is involved.
Paul is well known as a public speaker and a presenter of training programmes and seminars to corporations and institutes.
He is a former member of the WA State Debating Team and has served on the boards of a number of Western Australia community and sporting groups. Some recent examples of cases in which Paul has appeared as counsel are as follows:
Successfully applied as counsel for an urgent interlocutory injunction in September 2025 in the Supreme Court to prevent the eviction of a farmer from his farm in Narrikup as part of ongoing litigation regarding the succession rights and a claim of proprietary estoppel.
Acted as counsel in a trial (decision still pending) in the District Court regarding a contractual dispute over the sale of a commercial property in South Perth.
Successfully negotiated a complex farming succession dispute regarding properties in Corrigin that was the subject of proceedings in the Supreme Court. Those proceedings involved a number of mediations and contested interlocutory disputes, including successfully arguing a dispute regarding accessing privileged documents. See Bolt v Bolt [2023] WASC 162.
Acted for defendants as counsel in proceedings in the Supreme Court in a dispute regarding the sale of a large industrial business and, in particular, claims concerning breaches of contractual restraints and duties of officers of a company. The proceedings are on-going and have included a number of contested interlocutory disputes. See, for example, a successful application to access documents in Braziron Corporate Services Pty Ltd v Road Rail and Mine Products Pty Ltd [2025] WASC 432.
Successfully represented the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia in relation to an enquiry in 2023 and 2024 by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission into a merger between Reat Estate Australia and Dynamic Methods.
Successfully acted as counsel in a summary judgment application for the recovery of funds and declarations of trust in connection with a Ponzi scheme. See Markopoulus v Marco [2020] WASC 79.
Successfully acted as counsel in the Federal Court in an urgent application for an interlocutory injunction to restrain the termination of an Australia-wide franchise regarding the provision of aged living services. Numerous interlocutory disputes took place in the run-up to an expedited trial (see, for example, HCA MFA Pty Ltd v HCAFranchise Corporation Inc [2019] FCA 678) when, shortly before the trial commenced, the case was settled on favourable terms for the client.
Successfully appeared as counsel for a client who obtained an injunction in Supreme Court proceedings restraining the use of assets pending the hearing of an application to liquidate a corporation. The case settled on terms favourable to the client shortly before the trial of the action.
Successfully appeared as counsel at a lengthy trial of proceedings in the Supreme Court in which the client successfully defended an application to seize farming property from him. See Woodley v Woodley [2018] WASC 311. A subsequent application by the client that his legal costs be partially paid by the opponent on an indemnity basis was also argued successfully. See Woodley v Woodley [2018] WASC 381.
Successfully appeared as counsel in the Court of Appeal in relation to an appeal concerning a contested application of probate of a large estate with significant commercial interests. See Woodley v Woodley [2018] WASCA 149.
Successfully appeared as counsel in the District Court in relation to a trial of an application by a plaintiff for contributions to road costs in a sub-division of land under the Planning and Development Act 2005 (WA). See Starshore Pty Ltd v Kellas [2018] WADC 113. A subsequent application for indemnity costs was also successful. See Starshore v Kellas [2018] WADC 113 (S).
