Litigation practice focuses on product liability, toxic tort and environmental litigation, food contamination claims, complex commercial litigation, including mass torts, class actions and multidistrict litigation, general commercial litigation, and appellate advocacy.
Ms. Alexandra B. Cunningham is co-head of the firm’s products liability and mass tort litigation practice group.
She represents major corporate clients in all aspects of toxic tort and environmental litigation, including successfully defending asbestos, benzene, formaldehyde, hydrogen sulfide, solvent and silica-related premises and product liability claims, large-scale environmental toxin and exposure claims, involving PAHs, fluorides, coal combustion residuals and hexavalent chromium, and claims of bacterial contamination in food and beverage products.
She also represents clients in product liability and general commercial litigation.
Ms. Cunningham is admitted to practice in Virginia, Georgia, New York, and West Virginia, and before the federal courts in those jurisdictions and others.
She has appeared as trial counsel in state and federal courts around the country, and has led appeals to the Virginia, Kentucky, West Virginia and United States Supreme Courts.
Ms. Cunningham has also led arbitrations before the International Chamber of Commerce and American Arbitration Association.
Experience:
- National Coordinating Counsel, national regional counsel, trial counsel and local counsel for several Fortune 100 and 500 companies in mass tort and toxic exposure litigation.
- Provides strategic pre-market litigation risk advice to product manufacturers, including guidance on potential risks of product or manufacturing changes, regulatory compliance, investigations, litigation avoidance, and risk management and incident response for product failure, crises or catastrophic events.
- Substantial experience in representing international companies in U.S.-based litigation, including forum and jurisdictional-based defense strategies and international discovery.
- Trial counsel in asbestos cases around the country, including New York, California, and Virginia, where served as trial counsel for consolidated trial of 1300 asbestos claims − the largest asbestos trial in Virginia history.
- Argued successful motion to dismiss on lack of legal duty in first “take home” asbestos exposure case filed in Arizona state court.
- Trial counsel in jury trial involving allocation of environmental liabilities under Asset Purchase Agreement in Illinois federal court. Case settled on favorable terms before verdict.
- Led and argued multiple appeals before the Supreme Court of Virginia.
- Argued successful plea in bar in Newport News Circuit Court on novel issue of Virginia law resulting in dismissal with prejudice of multi-million dollar asbestos wrongful death claim.
- Primary drafter of Virginia Supreme Court pleadings and Petition for Writ of Certiorari filed in the United States Supreme Court challenging mass consolidation of asbestos cases.
EDUCATION:
- JD, Emory University School of Law, with high honors, Managing Editor, Emory Law Journal, Elected to Order of the Coif, 1999
- BA, Psychology, University of Virginia, 1996
BAR ADMISSIONS:
- Georgia
- New York
- Virginia
- West Virginia
Memberships:
- Leadership Metro Richmond, Class of 2017
- Member, American, Virginia and Georgia Bar Associations
- Member, Defense Research Institute
- Board of Directors, YMCA of Greater Richmond
- Board of Directors, Virginia Early Childhood Foundation
- General Counsel, Virginia Association of Independent Schools
- Adjunct Faculty Member, University of Richmond School of Law, teaching “Appellate Advocacy”
- Managing Partner, Hunton & Williams – Charlottesville Pro Bono Office
Cost
Rate : $$$