Cynthia Chen McTernan is an associate in the Los Angeles office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.  Ms. McTernan specializes in high-exposure complex commercial actions, class actions, and mass actions, with a focus on consumer protection and employment matters.  She has represented clients in high-stakes matters at all phases of litigation and across a variety of industries, including higher education, technology, retail, entertainment, and financial services.  Ms. McTernan was recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® 2022 and 2023 Ones to Watch in Commercial Litigation.

Ms. McTernan regularly represents clients in the software, hardware, and platform technology industries in matters involving consumer fraud claims and consumer disclosure issues.  She is experienced in defending clients in consumer class actions, government enforcement actions, and mass arbitrations, especially those with complex legal and procedural issues that require coordination across multiple fora and with parallel investigatory components.

Ms. McTernan’s labor and employment experience includes representation of multiple employers, including leading online retailers and entertainment and technology companies, in securing favorable resolutions of high-profile individual, representative, and class actions involving allegations of systemic gender and race discrimination or sexual harassment.  In addition, Ms. McTernan has particular expertise in higher education and has represented multiple major universities in class and mass action litigation relating to alleged misconduct by university employees.  Finally, Ms. McTernan has successfully defended employers in wage-and-hour class actions and representative actions under the California Private Attorneys General Act, including cases alleging misclassification of workers, failure to provide meal and rest breaks, failure to pay overtime, and failure to reimburse business expenses.

Ms. McTernan maintains an active pro bono practice, including representation of victims of anti-Asian hate crimes in coordination with the Alliance for Asian American Justice.  She is also a member of the Firm’s Los Angeles Area Diversity Committee, and serves as Vice Chair of the Board of Directors for Cancer Support Community Los Angeles, which provides comprehensive care and support to those impacted by cancer, with a focus on under-resourced communities. 

Ms. McTernan graduated from Harvard Law School in 2013, where she was an editor on the Harvard Journal of Sports and Entertainment Law.  She received a Bachelor of Arts in English with High Distinction and summa cum laude from Duke University in 2010, where she was a Benjamin N. Duke Scholar and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa.  Ms. McTernan is admitted to practice in the States of New York and California.