Biography

Paul T. McBride is an attorney with 40 years of experience in civil litigation, business and contract law, and criminal law. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan and his J.D. from Cornell Law School. He served as a judge advocate in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1983 to 1993. As a military attorney, Mr. McBride gained extensive trial experience, serving as both a prosecuting attorney and a defense counsel at three Marine Corps installations. His courts-martial cases included a high profile death penalty case and two espionage cases. His last tour of duty while on active service was at the Office of the Judge Advocate General of the Navy at the Pentagon.  Mr. McBride remained in the Marine Corps Reserves after leaving active service and was twice recalled to active duty in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, serving as the Officer-in-Charge of the Peacetime/Wartime Support Team for Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 24th Marines in Saginaw, Michigan. He retired as a lieutenant colonel in 2011.

Commencing in 1993, Mr. McBride practiced civil litigation in California. He was a partner at Borton, Petrini & Conron in Newport Beach, where he specialized in the defense of personal injury and construction defect claims. He joined Kring & Chung LLP in Irvine, California, in 1998, and served at the managing partner of the firm's Sacramento office from 2007 to 2017.   Mr. McBride concentrated primarily on construction litigation and general business litigation. Mr. McBride has represented every building trade from grading through roofing.   His most notable civil trial was in defense of a stucco subcontractor facing a $3,000,000 claim in a construction defect action in Phoenix, Arizona. A four-day jury trial resulted in a defense verdict for Mr. McBride's client.  Mr. McBride currently serves as general counsel for a number of Northern California construction companies.

Mr. McBride also practiced in Nevada from 2009 to 2019, defending subcontractors and general contractors in construction defect lawsuits in Washoe County (Reno) and Clark County (Las Vegas).  In 2017, he served as lead defense counsel on a complex construction defect/personal injury case in Las Vegas in which he represented the builder of one of the largest casino hotels on the Las Vegas Strip. The case settled two days before trial began for over $25,000,000.  

In 2018 Mr. McBride opened his own practice in Ellensburg while retaining “in-counsel” status with his California law firm.  In Washington, Mr. McBride concentrates on criminal defense law and construction law.