J. Paul Gignac

Office: Santa Barbara

Phone: 805.683.7400 Ext: 200

Email: j.paul@aogllp.com

Fax: 805.683.7401

J. Paul Gignac (pronounced jah-nack), the partner-in-charge of the firm’s Santa Barbara office, specializes in the prosecution of class and representative actions in both state and federal courts throughout the country. In addition to having resolved numerous class actions at the state and federal level (click here for a description of recent class action settlements), he has authored several articles on class action litigation for international, national and statewide legal publications. (Click here to view a collection of articles authored by Mr. Gignac.) Although his litigation practice is diversified, Mr. Gignac primarily handles and oversees the firm’s telecommunications class action practice. In addition to his litigation practice, Mr. Gignac also provides business advice and consultation to small business in the Santa Barbara area.

Mr. Gignac was raised in Massachusetts. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree cum laude in Government from Dartmouth College and his Juris Doctor degree from the UCLA School of Law. During law school, Mr. Gignac was a member of the Federal Communications Law Journal, and he served as a judicial extern to the Honorable A. Wallace Tashima, who was then a Judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California and is presently a Justice for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal.

Prior to joining Messrs. Arias and Ozzello to form Arias, Ozzello & Gignac, Mr. Gignac was the partner-in-charge of the class action department at the nationally-recognized business trial firm of Cappello & McCann. In addition to overseeing the class action practice, Mr. Gignac was involved with the firm’s entertainment litigation practice. As part of that practice, Mr. Gignac and one of his partners co-tried a case which, after a three-month trial in Los Angeles Superior Court during the summer of 2000, resulted in a $54 million jury verdict for their client. (Click here to view press coverage of this verdict.)

Mr. Gignac is admitted to practice in the State of California. He also is admitted to practice, and has appeared before, all of the federal district courts in California as well as the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. In addition, he has been admitted on a pro hac vice basis in numerous state and federal district courts throughout the country in connection with matters which have been litigated by him outside of the State of California. Mr. Gignac also is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court.

During 2007, Mr. Gignac argued and prevailed on two cases before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals which resulted in published opinions: Douglas v. Talk America, Inc., 495 F.3d 1062 (9th Cir. 2007) and Lozano v. AT&T Wireless Services, Inc., 504 F.3d 718 (9th Cir. 2007). Mr. Gignac also has argued cases before the California Courts of Appeal that have resulted in published decisions.

Mr. Gignac is a member of the Union Internationale des Avocats, the Western Trial Lawyers Association, the Federal Bar Association, the Public Justice Foundation, and the Santa Barbara County Bar Association. Mr. Gignac spoke on the subject of class actions at the 51st Annual Congress of the UIA in Paris, France in November of 2007.

In 2008 and 2009, Mr. Gignac was recognized by his peers as a Southern California Super Lawyer, an honor reserved for the top 5% of attorneys practicing in Southern California.

Mr. Gignac is a Director of Elite Meetings International Holdings, Inc. Mr. Gignac is also a member of MENSA.