Cuneo Gilbert & LaDuca, LLP

Cuneo Gilbert & LaDuca, LLP is a law firm with offices in Washington, D.C., New York City, St. Louis, and Nashville. The late Jonathan Cuneo was the lead partner of the firm along with co-partners Pamela Gilbert and Charles LaDuca. The firm represents consumers, businesses, workers and governments through litigation, lobbying and public advocacy.

Cuneo Gilbert & LaDuca, LLP represents clients in a range of civil and legislative matters.

Auto Parts Price-Fixing Antitrust Litigation – CGL successfully represented auto dealers in 29 states and D.C. in the In re: Automotive Parts Antitrust Litigation,^[1] the largest international antitrust investigation in U.S. history. The case involved price fixing and bid rigging by automotive parts manufacturers, leading to over $2.9 billion in fines. CGL’s Jonathan Cuneo was appointed co-lead counsel, and more than 40 damages cases were filed. All defendants agreed to settlements, with court-approved agreements totaling over $400 million. Since June 2020, Judge Sean F. Cox has overseen the auto dealer cases, with funds from the fourth round of settlements distributed in August 2022 and a fifth round pending approval.^[2]

Strip search cases – CGL has served as counsel in over twenty cases challenging the blanket strip search practices of such municipalities as Phoenix, Philadelphia, San Antonio, Pittsburgh, Newark, Buffalo, Trenton, and Atlantic City.

Many of these cases reached multimillion-dollar settlements.^[3]

Hungarian gold train – CGL successfully represented Hungarian Holocaust Survivors seeking restitution and an accounting against the United States government in the Hungarian Gold Train case,^[4] which was settled for $25.5 million in 2005 after nearly five years of litigation.^[5] The settlement's terms also included an apology from the Bush administration for the conduct of the U.S. Army.^[6]

"Joe Camel" case – CGL's predecessor firm, Cuneo Law Group, PC, served as Washington counsel in the first case to challenge the Joe Camel cigarette advertising campaign. The action was filed in California state court in 1991 well before the U.S. Attorney General began tobacco litigation. This litigation led to the release of documents that revealed R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company had studied under-aged smokers with a view toward selling cigarettes and consequently induced youths to start smoking through targeted advertising.^[7]

Prudential case – CGL represented individual claimants against Prudential Insurance Company in post-settlement proceedings after a class action charging that Prudential had abused policyholders through deceptive sales practices. Over a period of eighteen months, the firm oversaw approximately 55,000 arbitration-like proceedings in this $4 billion settlement.^[8]

Kwikset case – CGL partner Jonathan Cuneo successfully tried the “Kwikset, Made in the USA” case in 2001. After a trial victory, the Court of Appeal set the decision aside twice. CGL appealed to the California Supreme Court, and in 2010, Cuneo argued and won a 5 to 2 decision. That landmark decision established the principle that “labels matter” under California's Unfair Competition and False Advertising laws and is now a landmark of American law.

Entran II – CGL represented homeowners whose Entran II radiant heating systems allegedly contained defective pipe, yielding a $346 million bi-national settlement, one of the largest product liability settlements in history. On November 17, 2004, New Jersey District Court Judge Stanley Chesler gave final approval of this settlement.^[9]

Enron – CGL served as Washington counsel for defrauded Enron investors from 2002 through 2008. This Enron Securities Litigation recovered over $7 billion, the largest in the history of federal securities litigation.^[10] CGL Lawyers assisted the lead counsel in developing the theory of "scheme liability" and facilitated the filing of numerous amici briefs in support of this theory.

Metromail – CGL brought a class action suit against Metromail for privacy violations surrounding supermarket questionnaires. After a woman in Ohio received a sexually suggestive letter from a maximum security inmate in Texas, it came to light that the company had subcontracted for Texas prisoners to “key” the questionnaire information.^[11] The firm settled the case for injunctive relief, and a cash pool of $15 million was made available to victims.

PSLRA – On behalf of the National Association of Shareholder and Consumer Attorneys, Jonathan Cuneo, head partner at CGL, led a coalition that successfully prevented the evisceration of private actions under the securities laws. This effort included lobbying, grassroots organizing, media outreach and paid media, and lasted a year. As a result, since the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act was enacted, investors have been able to make some of the biggest recoveries in history, including Enron, Worldcom and Tyco.

• Charles LaDuca (Managing Partner)^[12]
• Pamela Gilbert (Partner)^[13]
• Amanda Lewis (Partner)^[14]
• Michael Flannery (Partner)^[15]
• Evelyn Riley (Partner)^[16]
• Christian Hudson (Partner)^[17]
• Charles Barrett (Partner)^[18]

On January 6, 2025, Cuneo Gilbert & LaDuca, LLP launched its Government Affairs team.^[19]

Cuneo Gilbert & LaDuca, LLP is a sponsor of the NASCAR Late Model Sports Car driven by professional driver Mike Darne.^[20] Darne competes at Old Dominion Speedway in Manassas, VA driving car #21, and at Hickory Motor Speedway in Hickory, NC driving car #99.

• Official website