Mark Chavez

Mark Chavez received his Juris Doctorate degree from Stanford Law School where he served as a Judicial Extern for the Honorable Mathew O. Tobriner of the California Supreme Court, was a co-founder and the first Managing Editor of the Stanford Environmental Law Journal and was a founding member of the Stanford Public Interest Law Foundation. He was selected through the Attorney General's Honors Program and joined the Civil Division of the United States Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. after graduating from law school, Mark entered private practice working first at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP and subsequently at Farrow, Bramson, Chavez & Baskin before founding the law firm of Chavez & Gertler LLP which he successfully managed for twenty-five years. He is currently of counsel to Kemnitzer, Barron & Krieg.

In the course of his career, Mark has represented plaintiffs in a wide variety of consumer class actions and other complex civil litigation matters. His significant class action experience includes arguing Olszeweski v. ScrippsHealth, 30 Cal.4th 798 (2003) and Linder v. Thrifty Oil, 23 Cal.4th 429 (2000) before the California Supreme Court and acting as co-counsel for the plaintiffs in In re Tobacco Cases II, (2007) 41 Cal.4th 1257 and Briseno v. Washington Mutual, 24 Cal.4th 906 (2001). He has served or is currently serving as lead or co-lead counsel in over 125 class actions filed in federal and state courts in Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Washington. These cases have resulted in some of the largest recoveries ever achieved in consumer class actions. See, e.g., Richardson v. Wells Fargo, Case No., CGC-08-481662 (San Francisco Superior Court) ($232 million); Smith v. General Motors Acceptance Corporation, Case No. 776152 (Santa Clara County Superior Court) ($105 million); In Re Transouth Cases, (Santa Clara County Superior Court) ($76 million).

Mark is A-V rated by Martindale-Hubbell and has been selected as a Northern California Super Lawyer twelve times. He was one of the founders of the National Association of Consumer Advocates and is its former Co-Chair. Mark currently serves as the chair of the board of Public Citizen Foundation. He previously served on the boards of the National Consumer Law Center, Disability Rights Advocates, Consumer Attorneys of California, Stanford Public Interest Law Foundation, Legal Services for Children, San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association, and Public Justice Foundation.

Mark has received the Champion of Justice Award from the Bar Association of San Francisco, the Equal Justice Award from the Law Foundation of the Silicon Valley and the Guardian of Justice Award from Bay Area Legal Aid. He has also been named the Consumer Attorney of the Year by the National Association of Consumer Advocates. Most recently, the National Consumer Law Center bestowed the prestigious Countryman Award on Mark, in recognition of his lifetime of achievements in the field of consumer law.