Background

At Auburn University, Mr. Paul was a Captain and Match Secretary for the Auburn University Rugby Football Club and finished his career at Auburn as a member of the honorary fraternity, Phi Kappa Phi. While at Florida State, Mr. Paul was member of the honorary legal fraternity Phi Delta Phi and worked as a misdemeanor prosecutor for the Leon County State Attorney’s office. He joined Peterson & Myers in 1996 and practiced in the Lake Wales office for eight years. In 2004, he moved to Peterson & Myers’ Lakeland office.

Mr. Paul’s trial practice has allowed him to represent all manner of clients, from large companies to individuals. He has been counsel of record in the trial court of at least eighteen of Florida’s sixty-seven counties. Outside Florida, he has represented clients in Federal District Court in Kentucky, North Dakota and Georgia. Mr. Paul has also represented clients before the Second and Fourth District Courts of Appeal and had two cases before the Florida Supreme Court.  In 2017 Blake passed the Utah Bar Exam and is currently a member of the Utah State Bar.

In 2006, Mr. Paul was named a Florida Up and Coming Attorney by Florida Trend magazine. Most recently, Mr. Paul was named to the Best Lawyers in America from 2017 through 2021. Mr. Paul has also been named a Florida Super Lawyer from 2019 through 2021.

Education

Mr. Paul received his bachelor’s degree, Magna Cum Laude, from Auburn University in 1993. Mr Paul received his Juris Doctorate, Magna Cum Laude, from the Florida State University College of Law in 1996.

Admissions and Associations

Mr. Paul is currently a member of the Florida Bar, the Utah Bar, the Polk County Trial Lawyers Association, the Florida Justice Association and the Litigation Counsel of America. He is licensed to practice before all Florida and Utah State Courts; the Federal District Courts for the Northern, Middle and Southern Districts; and the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.  In 2014 Mr. Paul was appointed by Governor Rick Scott to the Tenth Circuit Judicial Nominating Commission and served as its chair in 2017/2018.  Mr. Paul was reappointed by Governor Scott to the same position in 2018.

Mr. Paul was a member of the board of directors for the Lake Wales Family YMCA from 1997 through 2001, and served as board president in 2000. Mr. Paul was on the Board of Trustees for All Saints Academy from 2004 through 2020, serving as Board Chair from 2010 to 2014 and again from 2018 through 2019. Mr. Paul also currently serves on the board of directors for the Florida Polytechnic University Foundation and the Lakeland Regional Medical Center Foundation.

Outside the office, Mr. Paul enjoys tennis, spending time with his wife and three boys, and Auburn football.