David Pitre

David Pitre practiced law for several years in Louisiana before moving to the Mississippi Gulf Coast in 1999. He is a partner at Silbert, Pitre & Friedman, and heads up the firm’s Gulfport, Mississippi office. Throughout his career, he has practiced exclusively in the area of personal injury and wrongful death and has fought for and obtained compensation for innocent accident victims and their families throughout the United States. David is an experienced litigator in both state and federal courts, and is quite often associated by attorneys from across the nation to litigate cases throughout the State of Mississippi.

David was elected President of the Mississippi Association for Justice (MAJ) at the age of 39, and completed his tenure as MAJ President in the Summer of 2009. He is active within the Mississippi State Bar Association, having served on various committees (Technology, Unauthorized Practice of Law, Summer School CLE, Professionalism). He continues his service on the MAJ Board of Governors and has served as chair on many MAJ committees. In 2009, Mississippi Supreme Court Chief Justice Bill Waller appointed him to serve on the Mississippi Code of Judicial Conduct Study Committee.

As lead counsel, he has obtained some of the largest jury verdicts in several counties throughout the State of Mississippi. He is a board-certified civil trial law specialist by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. He was also selected to join the invitation-only American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), a prestigious national group of civil trial litigators and jurists. Most recently, David was inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers (ACTL), an invitation-only fellowship of exceptional trial lawyers considered the best in their state or province.

David is a frequent lecturer and has been a guest CLE speaker for the American Association for Justice (AAJ), Mississippi Association for Justice (MAJ), Louisiana Association for Justice (LAJ), Mississippi Bar Association, Mississippi College of Law, and Ole Miss Law School. He has written many articles in the area of trial practice and courtroom technology, which have been published in state and national publications, including AAJs Trial, Mississippi Bar Associations Lawyer, MAJs Voir Dire, LAJs Louisiana Advocates, and Colorado Trial Lawyers Associations Trial Talk. David frequently serves as an organizer, moderator and panelist for legal education seminars featuring federal and state court judges throughout Mississippi.

Born and raised in southeast Louisiana, David graduated with honors from Nicholls State University and thereafter moved to Washington, D.C. in 1990, where he was involved in legislative and legal affairs in the United States Congress while working for a prominent Washington, D.C. lobbying firm. He studied law at George Washington University in D.C. & Loyola Law School in New Orleans (where he worked for two years with the Public Law Center, a nonprofit legal clinic focused on legislative and regulatory initiatives for the elderly, disabled and impoverished).

David is married to Dr. Laurie Aycock Pitre, an education professor at William Carey University. They have two daughters. He is active within his community, especially involving childrens causes. He has worked for many years as a volunteer reading tutor in public and alternative schools, and at a summer camp for child cancer survivors. He has volunteered his services for several children’s charities in a variety of ways, including as a fundraiser, event organizer, general counsel, and most recently as a board member.

EDUCATION:

Loyola University School of Law, Juris Doctorate, 1994
Nicholls State University, Bachelor of Arts, 1990

PRACTICE AREAS:

Personal Injury
Auto & Trucking Collisions
Wrongful Death
Bad Faith Insurance Claims
Industrial Plant & Other Workplace Injuries
Premises Liability
Dram Shop Claims (Bar & Restaurant Liability for Over-serving Alcohol to Minors & Visibly Intoxicated Patrons)
Medical & Hospital Negligence
Defective Products
Admiralty Injuries to Seamen, Offshore Workers & Longshoremen
Highway Defects
Legal Malpractice

COURT ADMISSIONS:

Louisiana State Courts, 1994
Louisiana Federal District Courts (Eastern, Western & Middle), 1994
Mississippi State Courts, 1999
Mississippi Federal District Courts (Southern & Northern), 1999
U.S. Federal Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, 1994

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS:

Mississippi Association for Justice (President, 2008-09)
American Association for Justice
Louisiana Association for Justice
Mississippi Bar Association
Louisiana Bar Association
Harrison County Bar Association

CERTIFICATIONS & HONORS:

American College of Trial Lawyers, Fellow (Inducted 2024)
American Board of Trial Advocates, Member (2019)
National Board of Trial Advocacy, Board Certified Civil Trials (2012)