PAUL J. WEINER

WEINER--Paul Jacob. The law firm of Rastegar & Matern deeply mourns the loss of its beloved friend and irreplaceable colleague, Paul Jacob Weiner, who died in December after a brave year-long battle with a rare cancer. Born in 1949, Paul earned a BA Magna Cum Laude in Physics and an MS in Applied Mathematics simultaneously at Harvard University in 1971, followed by a JD Cum Laude from Harvard School of Law in 1974. He was President of the Harvard Law Record and studied with Arthur R. Miller, Laurence Tribe, and Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. Paul's litigation career began in 1975 at Breed, Abbott & Morgan in New York. He was a lead counsel of record on precedentially important cases involving unfair competition, such as Johnson & Johnson v. Carter-Wallace. He also served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at Hofstra Law School from 1988 to 1990 and practiced at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in Palo Alto. Paul joined Rastegar & Matern in Los Angeles in 1995, developing not only mutual respect and admiration between him and partners Farzad Rastegar and Matthew Matern, but a true and deep friendship that lasted the rest of his life. At R & M, Paul appeared as second chair to and on the brief with Professor Erwin Chemerinsky in the case United States v. Waksberg, which involved separation of powers issues. He achieved many reported appellate victories which helped shape the law in California, including Ventura v. ABM, Franco v. Arakelian, Fuentes v. AutoZone, Gutierrez v. Commerce Club, and Pantoja v. Anton, considered one of the most important employment law cases in the past decade. He worked tirelessly and without fanfare to help his clients with unparalleled legal acumen and mentored dozens of young attorneys who will “carry on� his legacy. Paul is affectionately remembered by his large circle of friends, colleagues, college and law school alumni, and family as a true Renaissance man - a brilliant intellectual, a talented writer whose funny puns and witty repartee amused and inspired, an avid lover of music and the arts - and especially as a genuinely kind, generous, warm-hearted “cat,� a gentle and humble soul whose faith in God's will was as deep as his ecumenical spirit was wide, faithfully embracing his Jewish traditions and desirously learning about the faith traditions of his friends. In the words of Paul's surgeon, “I only got a glimpse of a truly remarkable man.� Paul is survived by his sister Janet Doerflinger and niece Jane Doerflinger, his aunt Etta Schlesinger, his uncle Louis Fine, and by everyone whose lives he touched and enriched. The world is a better place because Paul was here. Paul requested that donations made in his name go to a charity that feeds the hungry. The family has designated the SOVA Community Food and Resource Program of Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles. Donations can be made on-line: www.jfsla.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=400 or by mail to SOVA, 16439 Vanowen St., Van Nuys, CA 91406. Please specify you are making a tribute donation in memory of Paul J. Weiner.