Ms. Colunga represents clients in complex commercial litigation cases in state and federal courts across the country on a wide range of contract, employment, and business tort issues. She also manages internal investigations for corporations on these same issues.

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

But her “sweet spot,” so to speak, is managing sensitive disputes, which may have a difficult subject matter, be worth millions of dollars, or have hit the news. In those types of matters, her skills truly shine through, and indeed may be part of the reason why Chambers has ranked her as one of the top attorneys in Illinois who practices commercial litigation.

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, she 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 and a man from Uganda. She 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.

Ms. Colunga received her B.A. from Tulane University, cum laude, where she was the Recipient of a four-year academic scholarship, The Founder’s Scholarship. She received her J.D. from Loyola University Chicago School of Law, cum laude, where she served as Executive Student Articles Editor of the Loyola University Chicago Law Journal and was the Recipient of the CALI Excellence Award in Legal Writing, Appellate Advocacy, Constitutional Law, and Secured Transactions.