Paul N. Tranel

Paul N. Tranel – Managing Partner

Paul was raised on a ranch outside of Billings, Montana. He attended Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington and the Gonzaga-in-Florence program in Florence, Italy, earning a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature in 1991. Paul then attended the University of Montana School of Law, graduating in 1995. Paul started his law career at Datsopoulos, MacDonald & Lind, in 1995, working in the areas of railroad defense, personal injury and general civil litigation. In 2008 he became a founding partner and shareholder in the current firm Bohyer, Erickson, Beaudette & Tranel, P.C.

Paul’s current areas of practice include insurance coverage law, insurance defense/general civil litigation, personal injury litigation, construction defect, products liability litigation and employment-related matters. He is admitted to practice in all Montana State and Federal Courts, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court. He is a member of the State Bar of Montana, the Montana Defense Trial Lawyers’ Association, and the Claims and Litigation Management Alliance (CLM). Paul has a BV distinguished rating in Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory.

Paul’s reported cases include: Calcaterra v. Montana Resources, 962 P.2d 590 (1998); Winslow v. Montana Rail Link, Inc., 38 P.3d 148 (2001); Kaufmann v. GEICO General Ins. Co., CV 09-51-M-JCL (D. Mont. 2010), aff’d at 2010 WL 4128592 (C.A. 9 (Mont.)); Greenwald v. Safeco Insurance Company of America, CV 09-142-M-DWM (D. Mont. 2010); Conley v. First Nat’l Ins. Co. of Am., 494 Fed. Appx. 764 (9th. Cir. 2012); and Sullivan v. Cherewick, 391 P.3d 62 (2017).

Paul served on the Glacier Ice Rink Board of Directors (2004 – 2007) and as the YMCA Division Leader (2015 – 2019). He is currently on the Stone Mountain Homeowners Association Board of Directors (2015 to present). He enjoys mountain biking, road biking and downhill skiing with his wife, Angela, and their two sons.