Dirk B. Paloutzian

Mr. Paloutzian has been practicing law for more than 26 years. He has served on the firm’s Executive Committee for more than 12 years. He specializes in business litigation, professional liability defense, probate litigation, and agribusiness. Prior to joining Baker Manock & Jensen in 2002, Mr. Paloutzian spent over five years as a Deputy District Attorney for the County of Fresno where he prosecuted elder abuse, sexual assault, homicide, gang, 10-20-life and Three Strikes cases. He was the first prosecutor in Fresno County to convict at trial a defendant charged with elder abuse. He has tried more than 20 jury trials to verdict in addition to numerous bench trials, arbitrations and administrative hearings.

Mr. Paloutzian received a B.A. in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley, conferred with distinction in general scholarship, in 1991. He received his J.D. from the University of California, Davis, King Hall School of Law in 1994. In 1994, Mr. Paloutzian served as an extern to the Honorable Marvin R. Baxter, Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court.

Mr. Paloutzian sits on the Board of Governors of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers, San Joaquin Valley Chapter (2007 – present) and the Board of Directors of the Fresno County Bar Association (2020 – present). He served on the Board of Directors of the Fresno Wildlife Rehabilitation Service (2009 – 2019) and the Fresno Philharmonic (2007 – 2013). He has presented at Baker, Manock’s Central Valley MCLE Day on the subjects of elder abuse, probate litigation and appellate issues.