Gretchen Freeman Cappio

Gretchen Freeman Cappio leverages the power of litigation to make people’s lives better.

With a passion for strategic advocacy that achieves meaningful change, Gretchen represents clients in many well-known consumer protection, public health, environmental, and data privacy cases. Remaining true to her southern roots, she brings civility and a sense of humor to her practice. Gretchen’s colleagues at Keller Rohrback recognize her skill and natural ability to lead, electing her to the firm’s six-member Executive Committee—the third woman elected in the firm’s 100-plus-year history.

Gretchen has played a key role in many of Keller Rohrback’s consumer protection and automotive cases, among others. In the multibillion-dollar Volkswagen “Clean Diesel” case, Gretchen served on the Plaintiffs’ Settlement Team. During the rapid-fire negotiations, she drafted settlement documents and supervised notice in three separate, complex settlements. She also served as a member of the Plaintiffs’ Settlement Team for In re Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep EcoDiesel, MDL 2777 (N.D. Cal.).  In Jabbari v. Wells Fargo & Co., No. 15-2159 (N.D. Cal.), where employees unlawfully took customers’ data to set up unauthorized accounts, Keller Rohrback served as sole plaintiffs’ counsel. Gretchen helped negotiate an innovative $142 million settlement.

Courts across the country have recognized Gretchen’s leadership abilities. Recently, she was appointed to the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committees in In re: ZF-TRW Airbag Control Units Products Liability Litigation, MDL 2905 (C.D. Cal.), a complex case against several auto manufacturers and parts suppliers regarding defective airbags, and Won et al. v. General Motors, LLC, et al., No. 19-cv-11044 (E.D. Mich.), a class action concerning defective vehicle transmissions. Judge Childs also just appointed Gretchen Chair of the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in In re: Blackbaud, Inc., Customer Data Security Breach Litigation, MDL 2972 (D.S.C.), in which plaintiffs seek to hold Blackbaud accountable for failing to implement and maintain reasonable security procedures and practices to protect individuals’ and businesses’ private information against unauthorized access by third parties.

Gretchen’s advocacy extends to government clients in major public health cases. As part of the Keller Rohrback team working to hold opioid defendants accountable in the Opioid MDL, Gretchen serves as the lead client contact for the fourth largest county in the country, and was a chief negotiator of the One Arizona Memorandum of Understanding to allocate millions in opioid settlement funds, signed by the state, all counties, and nearly all of the 90 cities and towns in Arizona. Similarly, in In re: EpiPen, MDL 2785 (D. Kan.), in which Keller Rohrback’s Managing Partner Lynn Sarko is Co-Lead Counsel, Gretchen leads the firm’s contributions to the coordination of counsel, including directing PSC meetings, briefing and discovery, resulting in the certification of a nationwide RICO class.

Gretchen’s leadership and devotion to justice drive her legal work and personal time. In 2021, Gretchen was elected Board Chair of the Global Justice Center, a nonprofit promoting gender equality worldwide. She is also a founding board member of the Mother Attorneys Mentoring Association (MAMA), an organization supporting mothers in the legal profession, now with nine chapters across the United States.