Gia F. Colunga

About

Gia Colunga is a Partner in the Litigation and Labor & Employment Practice Groups. She represents clients in all phases of complex commercial litigation in state and federal courts across the country in a wide range of contract, business tort, and employment cases.

• Contract – Gia has substantial experience in breach of contract litigation, including relating to supplier and vendor agreements, purchase agreements, franchise agreements, and restrictive covenant agreements.
• Business Tort – Gia regularly litigates claims of fraud, trade secrets, sexual assault, intentional inflection of emotional distress, defamation, false light, and other related business torts.
• Employment – Gia has defended against countless employment claims, including Title VII, ADEA, FLSA, and retaliatory discharge claims.

But Gia's "sweet spot," so to speak, is managing sensitive litigation, which may have a difficult subject matter, be worth millions of dollars, or have hit the news. In those types of cases, her skills truly shine through.

In such a case, a third-party provided the following feedback to Chambers about her work: "I cannot speak highly enough of her. … She was the one person who developed an encyclopedic understanding of the facts, witnesses and issues that were critical to the defense. She coordinated an immense amount of diverse effort that ultimately led to the resolution of the case. Her greatest strengths are her organizational ability, leadership qualities and coolness under fire. She has no weakness, but for a comparatively young litigator she has accomplished major league results. I anticipate her value to clients will only increase in the coming years. I have not encountered an attorney with the multi-faceted skill set possessed by Gia Colunga." Likewise, a client told Chambers: “She represents us vigorously, adeptly and competently. When you have a tricky attorney on the other side, she is the right match. She knows when to be aggressive and when to dial it back. She knows how to handle high-stakes.” She received similar feedback from nominators several years ago when she received the "40 Under Forty" award from the Daily Law Bulletin and Chicago Lawyer.

In addition to her general caseload, Gia regularly devotes time to non-profit organizations and to pro bono matters. The Illinois Legal Aid Online non-profit organization recognized her for pro bono work, naming her the pro bono attorney of the month. More recently, Gia served as pro bono counsel alongside the National Immigrant Justice Center, to win freedom and protection for a woman from Cameroon. Gia Colunga also in on the Board of Directors of New Moms, a non-profit that partners with young moms and their children who are experiencing poverty and homelessness in the Chicagoland by providing critical services and coaching around housing, job training, and family support.