Career
He was a lawyer in Haarlem who lived first on the Wijngaardstraat, and later on the Zijlstraat. He rented the house on the Wijngaardstraat from the heirs of Arnout van Beresteyn (1556-1612), a family relation. During the years 1615-1617 he was commissioner of the court of justice in Haarlem.
Because later historians have attributed Catharina"s pendant to Pieter Soutman, it is unclear whether this portrait was first prepared by Hals, whose portrait of Paulus matches the pendant in many respects.