Patrick Coughlin


HIGHLIGHTS:

  • Received the AV Preeminent certification by Martindale-Hubbell (the highest rating available)
  • Senior Statesman by Chambers USA
  • Best Lawyer in America and a Southern California Best Lawyer by Best Lawyers
  • Antitrust Trailblazer and a Plaintiffs’ Lawyer Trailblazer by The National Law Journal
  • Leading Lawyer in America, Hall of Fame, and a Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyer by Lawdragon.
  • Top 100 Lawyer by the Daily Journal
  • Top Lawyer in San Diego by San Diego Magazine, and
  • Super Lawyer by Super Lawyers Magazine
  • American Antitrust Institute’s Antitrust Enforcement Awards for the category of Outstanding Antitrust Litigation Achievement in Private Law Practice
  • In 2023 was named as Lawyer of the Year by Best Lawyers®

BIO:

Patrick Coughlin is a Partner in the firm’s San Diego office. His primary practice focuses on securities litigation and competition law.

Prior to entering private practice, Patrick was an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of Columbia and then the Southern District of California, handling complex white-collar fraud matters. During this time, he helped try one of the largest criminal RICO cases ever prosecuted by the United States, United States v. Brown, No. 86-3056-SWR (D.D.C.), as well as an infamous oil fraud scheme resulting in a complex murder-for-hire trial, United States v. Boeckman, No. 87-cr-00676 (S.D. Cal.).

Over his career, Patrick has tried more than 50 cases, including some of the most famous securities and antitrust litigation in the U.S. He was pivotal in the case against Camel cigarettes for using its Joe Camel cartoon mascot to target children and secured a multi-billion payout for California cities and counties in the state’s landmark 1998 settlement with the tobacco companies.

More recently, Patrick has served as  lead counsel for several major securities matters, including  In re Apple Computer Sec. Litig., No. C-84-20148 (N.D. Cal.) and was a member of the trial team in Hsu v. Puma Biotechnology, Inc., No. SACV15-0865 (C.D. Cal.). Patrick was also one of the lead attorneys who, representing the class on a pro bono basis, recovered $25 million on behalf of Trump University students in class actions against President Donald J. Trump.

A talented athlete, Patrick received multiple football scholarships in college and coached football in Pueblo, Mexico while attending school there.

REPRESENTATIVE CASES – PRIOR TO SCOTT+SCOTT:

  • ADahl v. Bain Cap. Partners, LLC, No. 1:07-cv-12388-WGY (D. Mass.).($590.5 million settlement)
  • Alaska Elec. Pension Fund v. Flowserve Corp., 572 F.3d 221 (5th Cir. 2009).
  • In re Enron Corp. Sec. Litig. No. H-01-3624 (S.D. Tex.) $7.2 billion
  • In re Facebook Biometric Info. Privacy Litig., No. 3:15-cv-03747-JD (N.D. Cal.). ($650 million settlement)
  • In re Payment Card Interchange Fee & Merchant Discount Antitrust Litig., No. 1:05-md-01720-MKB-JO (E.D.N.Y. Dec. 13, 2019.) ($5.5 billion settlement)
  • In  re HealthSouth Corp. Sec. Litig., No. CV-03-BE-1500-S (N.D. Ala.). $671 million recovery
  • In re VeriFone Holdings, Inc. Sec. Litig., No. C-07-6140 (N.D. Cal.).$95 Million
  • Liberty Mutual Overtime Cases, JCCP No. 4234 (Cal. Super. Ct., Los Angeles Cty.). ($65 million payment)