What Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy does

Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, LLP is a California-based plaintiff-side litigation firm founded in 1969, operating as an independent Limited Liability Partnership with 45+ attorneys across four offices in the San Francisco Bay Area (Burlingame headquarters), Los Angeles, New York, and Seattle. The firm specializes in complex civil litigation against large corporations, with core practice areas spanning antitrust class actions, consumer protection, employment discrimination, privacy violations, securities/shareholder derivative suits, and mass torts including wildfire representation.

The firm's revenue model is anchored on contingency fee arrangements in significant matters, under which no fee is charged unless there is a recovery, with court costs potentially borne by the client in adverse outcomes. Its go-to-market is sales-led, relying on direct client intake, referrals, and a multi-channel presence including LinkedIn, Twitter/X, Facebook, a firm blog, and earned media through press releases. There is no proprietary technology stack; the firm is a traditional human-capital-intensive legal services provider with no disclosed AI/ML tooling, integrations, or API products.

Notable recent recoveries include a $4.1B+ Maui fire settlement, $2B+ in antitrust class actions, $310M in the Apple iPhone "Batterygate" class action, $400M returned to defrauded senior citizens, a $110M Wells Fargo discrimination settlement (final approval granted in 2026), and a historic Google Real-Time Bidding privacy settlement approved March 26, 2026. The firm is actively investigating Meta Platforms for alleged scam-advertising facilitation (announced June 24, 2026), and recently secured an $82.5M preliminary settlement in the Cattle/Beef antitrust matter against Tyson. Ownership is partner-held, with no PE, parent company, or external investors identified.

Name

Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy

Legal name

Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, LLP

Website

https://cpmlegal.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1969

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy is a California-founded plaintiff-side litigation LLP (est. 1969) with 45+ attorneys across four U.S. offices, representing consumers, investors, employees, and mass-tort victims in antitrust, privacy, discrimination, securities, and wildfire cases on a contingency fee basis.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Plaintiff Litigation Services

NAICS

Legal Services (5411)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro primary industry

Personal Injury & Insurance Defense (BPAHAAAM)

Keywords

• Complex civil litigation
• Class action lawsuits
• Antitrust litigation
• Consumer protection law
• Whistleblower representation

Headquarters

HQ city

Burlingame

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Legal Services - Contingency Fees: CPM represents clients in certain cases on a contingency fee basis. In such cases, no fee will be charged in the absence of recovery. However, in the event of an adverse verdict or decision, the contingent fee litigant may be responsible for court costs.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, LLP is a plaintiff-side national trial law firm that represents individuals, consumer groups, and shareholders in complex civil litigation against large corporations. The firm accepts cases primarily on a contingency fee basis across six practice areas: wildfire/mass tort, antitrust class actions, consumer protection, employment discrimination, data privacy, and securities/shareholder derivative litigation, recovering billions for clients in matters such as the $4.1B Maui fire settlement, $2B+ antitrust class actions, $310M Apple Batterygate, $400M for defrauded seniors, and $110M Wells Fargo discrimination settlement.

Product overview

Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, LLP is a national trial law firm offering legal services across multiple practice areas including wildfire litigation, antitrust class actions, consumer rights, employment discrimination, privacy protection, and securities fraud. The firm operates four offices and handles cases throughout the United States, with a focus on complex litigation on behalf of consumers and businesses. Notable matters include the $4.1B+ Maui fire settlement, $310M Apple 'Batterygate' recovery, $110M Wells Fargo discrimination settlement, and the Google RTB privacy settlement.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Wildfire and Mass Tort Litigation

Quantifiable outcome

• $4.1B+ recovered for Maui fire victims
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered major.

• Pritzker-LevinemajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 26 March 2026Co-counsel with CPM in filing the Google RTB privacy lawsuit five years ago, resulting in historic settlement to protect privacy rights of hundreds of millions of Google Account holders.
• Bottini & Bottini, Inc.majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWorked closely with Frank Bottini and Aaron Arnzen from Bottini & Bottini, Inc. as Additional Counsel in the Wells Fargo $110M discrimination settlement case. Both firms served together in the Twitter class action obtaining a $2.6B jury verdict against Elon Musk.
• Motley Rice LLCmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerServed as co-lead counsel with Cotchett Pitre & McCarthy LLP in the Wells Fargo discrimination litigation. Played central role in negotiating settlement and developing abatement framework.
• Bleichmar Fonti & Auld LLPmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerServed as co-lead counsel in Wells Fargo derivative litigation working together to develop settlement and abatement framework.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein: San Francisco-based plaintiff-side firm with a near-identical practice mix of antitrust, consumer protection, mass tort, and securities class actions; competes head-to-head with CPM for lead-counsel roles in nationwide MDLs and class actions.
• Motley Rice LLC: Plaintiff-side complex litigation and class action firm that has served as co-lead counsel with CPM on the Wells Fargo discrimination matter; comparable in size, case profile, and contingency-fee economics across mass tort, antitrust, and financial-fraud work.
• Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP: Largest U.S. securities and consumer class action firm; directly competes with CPM for lead-counsel roles in shareholder derivative and securities fraud matters such as the Wells Fargo derivative litigation.
• Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP: Plaintiff-side class action firm with strong consumer protection and antitrust practices (e.g., Apple, Big Tech matters); closely comparable in case types, plaintiff orientation, and contingency-fee model.
• Susman Godfrey LLP: Trial-focused firm with a top-tier complex commercial litigation and class action practice; competes for lead-counsel roles in high-stakes civil litigation against large corporations, similar to CPM's 'Top National Trial Lawyers' positioning.
• Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check LLP: Plaintiff-side securities class action and derivative litigation firm; directly comparable to CPM's securities and shareholder derivative practice and a frequent competitor in court-appointed lead-counsel contests.
• Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC: Plaintiff-side antitrust, consumer protection, securities, and civil rights firm; shares CPM's contingency-driven model and competes for lead-counsel positions in large consumer and antitrust class actions.
• Bleichmar Fonti & Auld LLP: Securities litigation and shareholder derivative firm that served as co-lead counsel with CPM on the Wells Fargo derivative matter; comparable in size, focus, and plaintiff-side orientation.
• Scott+Scott Attorneys at Law LLP: Plaintiff-side complex litigation firm with strong antitrust, securities, and consumer class action practices; comparable to CPM in case types, contingency economics, and court-appointed lead-counsel competition.

Broad incumbents

• Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP: Much larger global complex litigation firm with significant class action and mass tort capabilities; overlaps with CPM's practice areas but typically engages on the defense side and operates at a much larger scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/CPMLEGAL
• Facebookfacebook.com/pages/Cotchett-Pitre-McCarthy-LLP/185193864836741?sk=timeline
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cotchett-pitre-&-mccarthy

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy