Personal
Strauss was born in Brooklyn, was raised in the Upper East Side of Manhattan. He moved to Washington, D.C. in 1982, earning his bachelor's degree (1986) and Juris Doctorate (1993) at American University. Strauss lives in the Observatory Circle/Glover Park neighborhood in the District. Strauss is an attorney and principal of the Law Offices of Paul Strauss & Associates, P.C., a law firm specializing in real estate, business, and family law. Strauss is a former Chairperson of the District's Board of Real Property Assessments and Appeals.
He has been a union organizer for Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union Local 25.
As a youth, Strauss was volunteer in election campaigns of Mario Biaggi, Hugh Carey, and Jimmy Carter. At 17, he interned for New York City Mayor Ed Koch with his own desk in the Tweed Courthouse. In his first political campaign in Washington, D.C., he mobilized other college students to register to vote against raising the drinking age to 21. He is a former at-large member of Washington, D.C.'s Democrat State Committee and Chairman of its Statehood Committee.
On October 1, 2008, Strauss was arrested for drunken driving. He was found to have a blood-alcohol level at twice the legal level of intoxication. On May 29, 2009, he pleaded guilty to the charge and was sentenced to a 60-day suspended jail sentence, 11 months of supervised probation, a $300 fine, and $100 fine to be paid to the victims of violent crime compensation fund.
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