Joseph M. Alioto Jr.

Experienced Trial Attorney

Alioto is a veteran trial lawyer, decorated former federal prosecutor, and civil litigator. He has represented consumers, small businesses, individuals, and victims of crime for over two decades.

Alioto has been counsel of record on complex antitrust cases before the California Supreme Court and the Second, Sixth, Eighth, and Ninth Circuit Courts of Appeals. In 2010, Alioto was named California Lawyer Attorney of the Year in Antitrust Law for his winning appeal before the California Supreme Court on behalf of independent pharmacies challenging the exorbitant high drug prices charged by major pharmaceutical companies. That case is now one of the most cited appellate decisions in California antitrust law over the past two decades. He has prosecuted price fixing and anticompetitive mergers against some of the largest corporations in the world, including Big Pharma, credit card banks, multinational beverage conglomerates, airlines, railroads, and others.

As a federal prosecutor, Alioto led complex investigations into violent, organized crime groups. In 2016, he led a racketeering prosecution of four leaders of a nation-wide criminal organization for racketeering, murder, attempted murder, robbery, arson, and related firearm and drug crimes. Read about the case here. In 2017, the Attorney General of the United States honored Alioto with the Director’s Award for Superior Performance. Read more here. In 2018, Alioto investigated and led a successful bribery and corruption prosecution against a former Oakland police officer and District Attorney investigator. Read about the case here; see also “Oakland City Leaders Stunned By Retired Cop Corruption Scandal.” As a result of his exposure to the gun violence in many of his cases (additional examples here and here), Alioto became a devoted advocate for victims of violence. In 2019, he began collaborating with the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence on proposed firearm legislation.

Before starting his own law firm, Alioto was a partner at Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, where he represented whistleblowers, antitrust plaintiffs, and small to medium-sized firms in complex business disputes. He earned his JD and MBA from the University of California Berkeley School of Law and Haas School of Business. He received his undergraduate degree from Georgetown University cum laude.

Alioto is a life-long San Franciscan and active member of his community. In 2023, Governor Newsom appointed Alioto Chairman of California’s Occupation Safety and Health Standards Board (OSHSB). Prior to that, he sat on the Board of the California State Coastal Conservancy since 2020. He is a founding board member of RescueSF, a San Francisco city-wide coalition that advances concrete solutions for ending homelessness. Alioto has volunteered his legal services to the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

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