Frank M. Pitre, a San Francisco native, earned his B.S., cum laude, in Business Administration and his J.D. from the University of San Francisco. While at USF, Frank served a legal externship with the California Supreme Court.
Considered as one of the outstanding trial lawyers in areas of personal injury/wrongful death, consumer fraud, mass torts and commercial torts, Frank has won millions of dollars for victims of injustice.
His skill as a trial lawyer has earned him recognition among his peers who have elected him as a member of the prestigious American College of Trial Lawyers, American Board of Trial Advocates (Advocate), International Academy of Trial Lawyers, International Society of Barristers, and the National Board of Trial Advocacy. In 2018, he was honored by Consumer Watchdog with its Lifetime Achievement Award for his successful advocacy on behalf of consumers over more than three decades.
Since January 2018, he has served as Co-Lead Counsel on behalf of the victims of the North Bay Wild Fires to prosecute claims against PG&E for its mismanagement of electrical operations leading to 43 deaths, 100,000 people displaced, over 245,000 acres burned and more than 14,700 homes and structures destroyed. In Re: California North Bay Fire Cases, JCCP Action No. 4955. Concurrently, he served as a member of the Plaintiffs' Executive Committee in statewide mass tort actions prosecuted against PG&E arising out of the Butte Wildfire. In Re: Butte Fire Cases, JCCP Action No. 4853.
Previous to that, he acted as Co-Lead Counsel, and secured one of the top 10 largest Shareholder Derivative Settlements in U.S. history against Officers and Directors of PG&E arising out of the San Bruno Fire & Explosion. Salman, et al. v. Darbee, et al., JCCP Action No. 4648.
He was selected by Federal District Court Judge Charles R. Breyer as one of twenty lawyers, among 150 attorney applicants nationwide, to serve as a member of the Plaintiffs' Steering Committee to prosecute claims on behalf of a nationwide class of consumers against Volkswagen, Porsche and Audi over their diesel emissions scandal. The cases were pending in the Northern District of California in MDL 2672: In Re Volkswagen "Clean Diesel" Marketing, Sales Practices, and Products Liability Litigation.
