Joseph W. Cotchett

The coronavirus pandemic has slowed the civil justice system, but it has meant more work for Cotchett, he said. The founder of Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy LLP has continued coming to the office daily, with colleagues and staff also arriving frequently on staggered schedules.

"It's not just the virus, it's the fallout. With the economy sinking, the rise in fraud and bad behavior out there is astounding," Cotchett said.

A particular concern is privacy issues related to tech companies. Cotchett said he was outraged to learn that a Bible study class conducted via Zoom by a San Francisco church was disrupted by a so-called zoombomb attack in which hackers broke into the session to subject the group to pornographic images. "We filed suit immediately," he said in late May. "These privacy concerns are a hot topic right now." Saint Paulus Lutheran Church v. Zoom Video Communications Inc., 5:20-cv-03252 (N.D. Cal., filed May 13, 2020).

The suit said that, "Instead of providing Saint Paulus and its congregants with a password-protected and secure videoconferencing platform, Zoom allowed a 'known offender'--one who had been reported multiple times to the authorities--to zoombomb" the class twice within minutes.

In March, Cotchett as co-lead counsel signed settlement documents with Apple Inc. in a deal worth as much as $500 million over class claims that it purposely slowed older model iPhones to persuade consumers to buy new ones. In re: Apple Inc. Device Performance Litigation, 5:18-md-02827 (N.D. Cal., filed April 5, 2018).

"Judge [Edward J.] Davila still has to give final approval, but we represented 320 million people," Cotchett said. "This is the largest consumer products settlement in the U.S."

In September 2019 Cotchett took on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, representing San Francisco Baykeeper and other groups on claims the EPA unlawfully determined that the Redwood City Salt Ponds are not protected by the Clean Water Act--a maneuver, Cotchett contends, that will let developers build housing on tidal lands. "They're trying to jack up the value of the land and sell it to public entities," he said. San Francisco Baykeeper v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 3:19-cv-05941 (N.D. Cal., filed Sept. 24, 2019).

In July 2019, Cotchett settled 20 years of litigation against lead paint manufacturers on behalf of 10 California cities and counties for $305 million. County of Santa Clara v. Atlantic Richfield Co., 00-CV788657 (Santa Clara Co. Super. Ct., filed March 23, 2000).

Cotchett has concerns about the civil court system and the delays it faces due to the pandemic. He's advocating for court budget increases to speed things up. "I doubt that we'll see a civil trial until late 2021," he said. "But you can't cut justice. That threatens democracy."

-- John Roemer