Attorneys > Mark C. Molumphy
Mark C. Molumphy, a principal at Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, is native of the Bay Area, born in San Mateo, California. He attended the University of California, Berkeley, where he graduated with a B.A. in political science. He also attended Edinburgh University in Edinburgh, Scotland, where he studied international relations and economics.
Molumphy received his J.D. from the University of San Francisco, during which time he clerked for the San Francisco County Superior Courts and for Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy.
Molumphy joined Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy in 1993, practicing civil litigation with an emphasis on complex business disputes, securities, antitrust, insurance bad faith, and products liability. In 1996, Molumphy was presented the Community Service Award by the Jack Berman Advocacy Center of the American Jewish Congress for his work on the landmark 101 California Shooting Litigation.
Molumphy has extensive experience in consumer and investor fraud class actions, including Smith v. Merrill Lynch (Orange County Bond Litigation), Estate of Jim Garrison v. Warner Bros. Inc., Campbell v. Acclaim Entertainment, Inc., In re Pilgrim Securities Litigation and Central Bank Litigation. More recently, he has been involved as lead counsel in the groundbreaking Apple stock option backdating litigation, the Informix securities litigation which involved the restatement of revenues in excess of $300 million, and on the Sybase, CBT and Rational Software derivatives cases, resulting in millions of dollars recovered for the companies and their shareholders. Molumphy also negotiated a multi-million dollar settlement on behalf of former shareholders of Bay Meadows Race Track.
He presently serves as lead counsel for a nationwide class of Janus mutual fund shareholders based on market timing practices, as well as lead counsel in the Freddie Mac preferred shareholder securities litigation, following the government’s historic takeover. Molumphy also represents numerous cities and counties in California related to their investment losses in Lehman Brothers, Washington Mutual and AIG, amongst others.
He is a member of the American Bar Association, the State Bar of California, the Association of Business Trial Lawyers and the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, where he serves on the Business Torts Litigation Group. He is also a member of the University of San Francisco Inn of Court. He is active in the San Mateo County Bar Association, where he served as Chair of the Business and Business Litigation Section, and as President of the San Mateo County Barristers. He currently serves as a court-appointed arbitrator, and was asked by the San Mateo Superior Court to help launch its Complex Litigation Courthouse.
He is active in community affairs. He serves on the Board of Directors and as a volunteer for the Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County, which provides free legal services to low-income children, families and seniors. He also has been appointed counsel by the Federal Court as part of the court's pro bono program.
In September 2007, the Parca Auxiliary honored Molumphy and Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy with "Parca's Angel Award." Molumphy and Neil Swartzberg accepted the award in recognition of the law firm's donations to Parca Organization, a private nonprofit association that serves people with developmental disabilities and their families in the Bay Area. Molumphy expressed hope that other law firms and companies will be encouraged to give back to the community with this example. See Parca Auxiliary Press Release PDF.
Molumphy is a frequent speaker on complex litigation and co-authored "Punitive Damages: How Much Is Enough?" Civil Litigation Reporter, CEB, 1998. He also has appeared as a panelist on programs, including "Strategic Tips For Successfully Propounding and Opposing Written Discover," "Punitive Damages: Maximizing your Client's Success or Minimizing Your Client's Exposure," "Developments in Class Action Litigation," and "FDA 2009 - Key Issues Facing Life Sciences Companies."