Recognized Leader in Mass Tort Litigation
Paul Farrell, Jr. is a founding partner of Farrell & Fuller and a nationally-recognized leader in mass tort litigation. He has stood at the center of some of the most consequential legal battles of our time, representing individuals and communities harmed by corporate misconduct.
Throughout his career, Paul Farrell, Jr. has challenged powerful corporations, helping to reshape public health policy and corporate accountability nationwide. His work spans mass torts, environmental and toxic exposure cases, and litigation that addresses systemic failures threatening public health and safety.
For Paul, each case is more than just a lawsuit. It is a fight for structural change. It is a fight for the people. A chance to change the rules, to expose the dangers of unchecked corporate behavior, and to ensure that people, not profits, remain at the center of the justice system.
Known for guiding cases from inception through trial or settlement, Paul’s leadership is built on the belief that meaningful change comes when corporations are held responsible and forced to implement lasting reforms.
A Career Spanning Complex Litigation and National Mass Torts
Paul Farrell Jr.’s career has been defined by his ability to take on challenging, high-stakes litigation, beginning with his formative years practicing law in West Virginia. Early on, Paul became widely recognized for his successful work in complex medical malpractice, birth trauma, and negligent credentialing cases. These early cases did more than build his trial skills. They sharpened his client-focused approach and honed his instincts for identifying systemic failures that harm vulnerable individuals.
His early victories were significant. Among them was a $10 million verdict in Riggs v. WVU Hospitals, a landmark medical malpractice case that set a standard for accountability in institutional healthcare settings. He later secured a record-setting $38 million verdict in Manor Care, Inc. v. Douglas, a nursing home negligence case that exposed gross failures in elder care and stood as the largest verdict of its kind in West Virginia at the time.
These experiences laid the foundation for Paul ’s transition into mass tort litigation, where he would go on to play a defining role. Building on his courtroom success, Paul was among the first in the country to identify the catastrophic defects in transvaginal mesh (TVM) products. What began as a wave of medical malpractice claims in his home state grew into a national product liability crisis. Farrell was instrumental in filing the earliest TVM product liability cases, leading to the consolidation of nearly 80,000 claims into Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) 2187 in West Virginia.
As a key member of the MDL Executive Committee for TVM product liability, Farrell helped direct the strategy for thousands of plaintiffs, serving as trial counsel in critical bellwether cases. These cases revealed the widespread devastation caused by defective transvaginal mesh products, which left countless women suffering from debilitating pain, life-altering complications, and permanent injuries. Many victims were forced to endure multiple invasive surgeries to remove the defective mesh, often facing chronic infections, nerve damage, and severe pelvic pain that disrupted every facet of their daily lives: from mobility and employment to personal relationships and dignity.
Paul’s work in this litigation helped secure multimillion-dollar verdicts that not only compensated women for their suffering but also reshaped the legal landscape of medical device accountability. The verdicts pressured manufacturers to reform how such products are designed, tested, and marketed, driving systemic reforms within the medical products industry and establishing critical legal precedents for protecting patient safety.
Throughout his career, whether advocating for individuals harmed by medical negligence or confronting corporate giants in complex mass torts, Paul has consistently proven his ability to navigate multifaceted legal challenges. His diverse background across multiple areas of litigation provides him with a unique and highly effective perspective as he continues to take on cases that demand accountability and systemic change.
Paul Farrell's Pioneering Role in National Opioid Litigation
Paul Farrell, Jr. has been a driving force behind the nationwide opioid litigation, a monumental legal effort that has brought national attention to the pharmaceutical industry's role in the opioid epidemic. Farrell’s work reflects his deep commitment to systemic reform and to finding solutions to one of the most devastating public health crises in American history.
The spark for his involvement came from a personal place. Paul’s mother, alarmed by the growing crisis in their community, handed him a newspaper detailing the overwhelming scale of opioid distribution in West Virginia and said plainly, “You have to do something about this.” That conversation led him to begin poring over laws and regulations, searching for a novel legal path. What he discovered was that public nuisance laws, traditionally used in environmental cases, could be repurposed to hold opioid distributors accountable.
It was a legal strategy no one had attempted before, and many believed Farrell would fail.
Paul filed some of the first public nuisance lawsuits targeting opioid distributors, following the alarming revelation that 780 million pills of opium were sold into West Virginia. As he recalled, “I saw that and filed one of the first opium cases in the country against the distributors. Pretty soon, I was hired by most of Southern West Virginia and then southern Ohio and eastern Kentucky. The next thing you know, virtually every county in the country filed an identical case, and they all got sent to one place, just like before.”
That “one place” was the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, where the cases were consolidated into Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) 2804, styled as In re National Prescription Opiate Litigation. Leveraging his leadership role in earlier mass torts, including transvaginal mesh litigation, Farrell became Co-Lead Counsel of the MDL, representing over 700 governmental entities across the country. His background and firsthand knowledge from the mesh litigation informed his strategy, positioning him as a key architect of this nationwide legal action. Farrell’s bold and creative legal approach became the foundation of one of the most significant mass torts in U.S. history.
Farrell’s approach to the opioid litigation, which carried on for over seven years, is marked by an unwavering sense of duty to the people and communities most affected by the crisis. As he puts it, “That is my story. We have done something extraordinary but must finish the race. It is either going to be magic or tragic.” His advocacy is fueled by the personal toll the epidemic has taken on his home state and beyond: “I am tired of going to funerals for the children of my friends. I am trying to make a difference.”
Through Farrell's efforts, joined by his law firm partner Michael J. Fuller, this litigation has not only yielded over $50 billion in settlements but has also helped establish new legal pathways for holding corporations accountable when their actions threaten public health. His work continues to influence the landscape of mass tort litigation, shaping how large-scale public health crises are addressed by the courts.
Education, Honors, and Personal Life
Paul graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1994 with a degree in government before earning his law degree from the West Virginia University College of Law in 1997. His decision to attend WVU Law was strongly influenced by his father, Judge Paul Farrell, who instilled in him the value of community and connection. After a visit to his father’s law school class photo, his father explained, “West Virginia is a family, and if you go to school here, the people you go to school with, you will see for the rest of your life.” That conversation left a lasting impression and helped set Paul’s path.
In recognition of his contributions to the legal profession, Paul was honored with the 2023 Justitia Officium Award, the highest distinction granted by the WVU College of Law faculty. This award, established in 1978 to commemorate the law school’s centennial, acknowledges outstanding service and dedication to the legal field. Paul received the honor at Commencement on May 12, 2023.
Reflecting on the recognition, Paul remarked, “It is truly an honor to be recognized by the law school faculty of my alma mater. I am humbled beyond words and proud to be a Mountaineer.”
Following law school, Paul returned to Huntington to work for Farrell, Farrell and Farrell alongside his father and two uncles. Under the mentorship of his uncle, Michael Farrell, he learned valuable lessons about discipline and perseverance that shaped his approach to the law. Those early years taught him that talent alone was not enough; success would require relentless hard work.
Away from the courtroom, Paul is deeply rooted in family life. He is married to Jacqueline Buchanan Farrell, his law school sweetheart, and is the proud father of three children, Connor, Cahley, and Casey. His greatest joy comes from spending time with his extended family, particularly during weekly Sunday breakfasts where his father cooks for the family and generations gather around the table.
Paul's professional and personal life reflects a steadfast commitment to justice, community service, and family values, which continues to resonate throughout his legal practice and advocacy.