Joseph W. Cotchett
According to the National Law Journal, plaintiffs and defense attorneys alike regard Joseph W. Cotchett as one of the best trial lawyers in the country. For the past 15 years, he has been designated one of the top 100 most prominent lawyers in the country, and in 2013, he was named by Super Lawyers as the number ONE lawyer in Northern California as chosen by his peers. He is "regarded one of the top trial strategists in the state," according to the San Francisco / Los Angeles Daily Journal, and has made a career out of representing the underdog against big interests.
He is a courageous litigator who once tried two cases in San Diego Superior Court at the same time (one in the morning and one in the afternoon) and won both. His clientele span from multinational corporations to consumer advocacy groups like Consumers Union, but the issue must be resolved correctly for Cotchett. “The Burlingame attorney has had a star career that’s not only talked about in legal circles but has made headlines around the country. Known mostly as a plaintiffs’ lawyer, many of his cases are filed on behalf of fraud victims, and have a widows-and-orphan flavor to them.” the San Francisco Chronicle said in 2003, describing him as one of the greatest in the Bay Area. Cotchett has consistently been designated one of California's most influential lawyers, has been named one of the top 10 trial attorneys in the state by the legal press, and has been listed in every edition of Best Lawyers in America since its establishment.
He has tried over 100 cases to verdict and resolved hundreds more during his 45-year legal career, winning multiple jury decisions ranging from multi-million dollar malicious prosecution jury verdicts to several defense verdicts in difficult civil matters. In a qui tam litigation on behalf of the University of California, he successfully negotiated a multi-million dollar settlement, as well as hundreds of millions of dollars in antitrust, securities, and big fraud cases. In the 1980s, Cotchett obtained record-breaking convictions and settlements for investors in white-collar fraud cases, including jury verdicts of more than $200 million in the case of the San Jose-based Technical Equities Corp.
In the Lincoln Savings & Loan Association/American Continental Corp. lawsuit in 1990 involving Charles Keating, his lawyers, accountants, and bankers, he was the primary trial lawyer representing 23,000 plaintiffs. He was awarded $3.3 billion in one of the highest jury verdicts in US history at the time. In a jury trial in Tucson, Arizona, he collected nearly $300 million in settlements from lawyers, accountants, and other professionals involved in the scandal. Since the early 1980s, he has represented both the National Football League and individual teams in numerous legal matters. He won a well-known defense jury decision for E. & J. Gallo Winery in a trade dress infringement lawsuit involving Gallo's wine labels and bottles. Gallo is represented by the firm on a regular basis in a variety of cases.
Cotchett has taken on huge corporations and Wall Street in recent years. On behalf of private investors and public pension funds, he and his firm are involved in litigation arising from nearly every major corporate scandal, including Enron, Worldcom, Global Crossing, Homestore.com, Qwest, Montana Power Company, Lehman Brothers, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, and a slew of others. The California Public Employees' Retirement System, California State Teachers' Retirement System, and the University of California Board of Regents, as well as numerous governmental subdivisions of the state, such as counties, cities, and districts, have all been represented by the firm.
Office: Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy
Address: 840 Malcolm Rd #200, Burlingame, CA 94010, USA
Phone: 650-697-6000
Mail: jcotchett@cpmlegal.com
