Lawyers group names Paboojian top attorney

Sunday, Nov. 09, 2008

The statewide trial lawyers association has named Fresno lawyer Warren Paboojian its attorney of the year for representing former Fresno State women's basketball coach Stacy Johnson-Klein during her high-profile gender discrimination trial last year.

Paboojian is the first San Joaquin Valley attorney to ever receive the award, which is considered the highest honor given by the 47-year-old Consumer Attorneys of California.

"I'm pretty humbled by it," Paboojian said Sunday. "I'm proud to represent the San Joaquin Valley and get this award."

Fresno attorney Nicholas "Butch" Wagner, an active member of the association, called the award "one of the most prestigious" honors given to a civil trial attorney in California.

"It's a big honor and a big recognition on how important that case was," Wagner said.

Paboojian represented Johnson-Klein and Diane Milutinovich, the former associate athletic director for California State University, Fresno, in their gender-discrimination lawsuits against the school.

After a nine-week trial in Fresno County Superior Court, a jury in December reached verdicts in favor of Johnson-Klein. The case was eventually settled for $9 million.

Milutinovich settled for $3.5 million in October 2007 before her case went to trial.

The Consumer Attorneys of California chose Paboojian out a group of 10 other finalists for its award. He was announced the winner on Saturday at the association's annual awards dinner in San Francisco.

More than 600 people attended, including a dozen state senators and California Attorney General Jerry Brown.

Paboojian said the award is given to lawyers who successfully work on cases that affect change beyond a single case.

"This case got statewide recognition for Title IX because no one had really brought a case like this in California before," Paboojian said, referring to the federal gender equity laws.

Rene Sample, the incoming president of the Central California Trial Lawyers Association, issued a statement Sunday that said the Johnson-Klein case "set a precedent that required not only Fresno State, but athletic programs all over the nation to re-evaluate their commitment to Title IX and gender equity."