Paul Neumann served as Attorney General of the Kingdom of Hawai'i under the administrations of King David Kalakaua from December 14, 1883 to September 18, 1884 and Queen Lili'uokalani from August 29 to November 1, 1892. He was also one of the first Jewish leaders in the Hawaiian Islands. He had originally come to Hawai'i from California to serve as legal counsel for the publisher of the Honolulu Advertiser, Claus Spreckles. Neumann became the private attorney of the queen after the overthrow of the monarchy in 1893. He defended her in front of the United States Judge Advocate General's Corps which tried the queen for treason against the Provisional Government of Hawai'i. He was also sent to Washington, DC to protest the illegal use of the United States Marine Corps in the overthrow and plea for the restoration of the monarchy.