Paula H. Blazek, a partner in the firm, has been Board Certified in both Civil Trial Law and Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization since 1990 and is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). An experienced first-chair trial lawyer, Paula has concentrated her practice in recent years on the defense of toxic torts, premises liability, and products liability matters. She is admitted to practice before all Texas courts, the United States Supreme Court, the Fifth and Eleventh U. S. Circuit Courts of Appeals, and United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. Paula received her legal education at Baylor University School of Law where she graduated in 1984, cum laude. She graduated from Baylor University, summa cum laude, with Bachelor of Arts degrees in Political Science and English, where she was elected to membership in Phi Beta Kappa. A native of Southeast Texas, Paula began her career in Beaumont with the Mehaffy Weber law firm. She left the firm in 1992 to join lawyers from two other defense firms in Beaumont to create Bernsen, Jamail & Goodson. A successor to that firm merged with Germer Gertz in March 2000. Active in local and statewide bar associations, Paula's many years of elective leadership culminated in her service as President of both the Jefferson County Young Lawyers Association (1988-1989) and the Jefferson County Bar Association (1993-1994). She was recognized as the Outstanding Young Lawyer of Jefferson County in 1992. She also served as a District Director on the Board of Directors of the Texas Young Lawyers Association (1991-1993). A founding member of the Mickey Mehaffy Inns of Court, Paula is also a Life Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation and a member of the Defense Research Institute and Texas Association of Defense Counsel. She is AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell and has been named annually on the Texas Super Lawyers list as published in Texas Monthly since 2003 and, in 2007, also recognized as one of the Top 50 Women Super Lawyers in Texas.