About Paul D Van Der
Paul D Van Der Walde built a legal career that traces back to two California institutions and more than three decades in practice. He earned his bachelor’s degree in business from Arizona State University in 1989. He then went on to Santa Clara University School of Law, where he received his J.D. in 1993.
After law school he joined the State Bar of California and began showing up in courtrooms and association meeting rooms across Santa Clara County. By the late 1990s he was leading his own practice. He served as senior partner at Van Der Walde & Associates starting in 1997. That role anchored his profile as an attorney working on behalf of clients in the local legal community.
In 2015 he became a partner at Caputo & Van Der Walde LLP. The move formalized a long-standing professional relationship and placed him in a firm where he continues to practice today. His work has been grounded in litigation and trial work, reflected in decades of courtroom experience and memberships in trial-focused organizations.
Van Der Walde’s association activity runs long and steady. He has been a member of the State Bar of California since 1993. He joined the Association of Trial Lawyers of America and the Consumer Lawyers of California in 1998. He became a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum in 2000, a group that recognizes lawyers who have achieved significant trial verdicts or settlements. Since 1999 he has served on the Board of Trustees for the Santa Clara Bar Association and maintained memberships in both the Santa Clara County Bar Association and the Santa Clara County Trial Lawyers Association.
He has also held local leadership posts. He served as president of the Sunnyvale Cupertino Bar Association from 2006 to 2007. Those roles put him in regular contact with judges, fellow lawyers and community organizations, and they shaped his standing in the county’s legal circles.
Throughout his career Van Der Walde has combined courtroom practice with bar service. He remains active in local and statewide lawyer groups and participates in activities that keep him engaged in trial practice and professional governance. He is a partner at Caputo & Van Der Walde LLP and practices law in California, representing clients in litigation matters on behalf of the firm.
